SHINTY: Glenurquhart aiming to cause major MacTavish Cup semi final upset
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Glenurquhart will look to cause a major upset in Skye on Saturday as they bid to reach the final of the MacTavish Cup for the fifth time in a decade.
The Drumnadrochit outfit head to Portree for the last four clash, looking to make the final for the first time since 2019.
The winners will face either Newtonmore or Kingussie in the final at Bught Park in Inverness next month.
Glenurquhart are no strangers to reaching the final of the MacTavish Cup during the last decade.
Since 2013, Glenurquhart have reached the final on four occasions and won the tournament in 2015 when they defeated Newtonmore 3-1. They also reached the final in 2013, 2014 and 2019 when they finished runners-up.
Manager Davie Stewart says Glenurquhart will go into the clash as underdogs.
Especially as Skye caused a major upset of their own when they won 2-1 at league leaders Newtonmore last weekend.
But he is confident his team have the quality to win and reach the final at Bught Park in Inverness next month.
“We are certainly underdogs, but we will go into the clash with a bit of confidence,” he said.
“We are not going to be pushovers, but we are taking on a very good premiership team. Skye’s win at Newtonmore tells you just that.
“They were the strongest team in the National Division last year, and they look to be even better this year.
"But we are determined to give it our best shot and the boys need to be at their best to spring a surprise.”
Glenurquhart have had a slow start to the league campaign, failing to win their first three matches, including defeat to Col Glen and draws with Oban Celtic and Fort William.
But as the season has gone on, results have improved and despite being in fourth place in the National Division, they are only two points off league leaders Kilmallie.
Stewart is content with how things are progressing at Glenurquhart as they look to pick up more positive results.
“We are doing OK this year,” he said.
“We scraped past Glengarry in the Balliemore Cup last week.
“We had poor results against Col Glen and Oban Celtic in the league, but we also had a great result against Lochaber.
“It would be fair to say that we have been grinding out results this season.
"But we also have a few players coming back into the squad who have been out injured.
“Glenurquhart are in a transition stage at the moment and not near the finished article, but it is something that we are working towards.”
