Shinty/Hurling Challenge Match

 Badenoch u17’s are playing Naomh Mearnóg, from Portmarnock, North County Dublin, in a cross codes Shinty/Hurling match at The Dell, Kingussie on Sunday 20^th April at 2.30pm. The match will be played under the international rules used each year in the Scotland v Ireland clashes and the Shinty/Hurling goals are being erected at The Dell.

Naomh Mearnóg arrive in Badenoch on Friday evening and are spending the weekend at Loch Insh, Kincraig. Their party of 18 youth players and 4 coaches are visiting The Highland Folk Museum on Saturday morning and having lunch at The Balavil Hotel before attending the Newtonmore v Beauly Mactavish cup tie at The Eilan on Saturday afternoon as guests of Newtonmore Camanachd Club.

After the Shinty/Hurling match on Sunday both teams will attend a meal in The Silverfjord Hotel, Kingussie.

Entrance is free, if you are in the area come along to watch the match.

Teams Piped on By Sandy McDonnell

Russell Jones Pays Tribute to the Fallen

“One Hundred Years and one day ago Kingussie Camanachd Club and Kyles Athletic Shinty Club faced each other in The Camanachd Cup Final at Possil Park in Glasgow.
The match on the 4^th of April was scheduled to be the last game of the 1914 season. Unbeknown to anyone there that day it was to be the last official Shinty match for 5 years and for some of the players it was to be the last match they ever played.
Four months later on the 4^th of August Britain declared War on Germany and all organised Shinty was suspended as the country’s thoughts turned to the conflict in Europe and beyond. Men from all walks of life volunteered to serve their country in what was to become known as ‘The Great War’.  Millions perished in conditions that are well documented but still impossible for us to imagine. Every community large and small was affected and Kingussie and Tighnabruich were no different.
The War memorial in Tighnabruich has 49 names recorded and the Kingussie memorial has 60 names of men who made the ultimate sacrifice in World War one. 109 men lost in these circumstances from two small communities is beyond our comprehension and it is credit to the strength and resolve of the people left that both communities thrive and flourish a century on.
Kingussie and Kyles Shinty clubs also thrive and flourish a century on and it is fantastic that the teams line up against each other to play at the top level of our sport again today. Both clubs have competed in and won many Camanachd Cups but it is doubtful if any of the finals have been as poignant as the 1914 match.
Before we continue with today’s game I ask that we take a moment to think about all those involved in the game 100 years ago yesterday, the service and sacrifice of players from both clubs and communities and in particular;

William MacGillivray, Lewis Macpherson, Alick Tolmie, John G. Macpherson, Malcolm Macintosh, John Macpherson, Celestine Nicolson, William Jamieson and William Brown.  Shinty players who laid down their lives when the greater game was for King and Country.

We will now observe a minute’s silence”.

Committee Showing Their Respect

The Teams Who Played 100 Years On

Quote from the coaches ” we are now regarded as the Murhino and Ferguson of the Junior shinty world for our inspirational team talks” !!! The question is who is the charismatic Portugese and who the grumpy Scot??

So the 2014 shinty boat sailed  as usual with the ever popular Bob Sinclair Memorial Cup. A much better day than last time, and the crowds arrived in good numbers for their first entertainment of the year. Great to see some of the old faces back in the saddle and as ever walking with a swagger as they were piped down to the arena for the 1pm throw up.

2014 is an important year for Scotland with the independence referendum, it is also an important one for the Kingussie Shinty Club as their transformation continues to progress. A crystal ball would be required to predict both the outcome of the vote and the success of the club in competition this season but it did not take a keen eye to predict the likely outcome of this annual ‘friendly’. Dear, dear vets how some bodies have changed in 12 short months (sample below)!

And so the game started with the early skirmishes looking quite even. Savio warmed Borthie’s hand with a cracking shot to give  advance warning of what was coming. It came as a surprise when the vets took the lead through Kevin Thain. Bob MacGregor showed tremendous skill to equalise within minutes with what could be the goal of the season. Robbie MacPherson is a recent convert to kick boxing and seems to have difficulty remembering that some of his skills in this sports should be kept for the boxing ring and not the shinty field! The Upstarts increased their lead and dominated play with Lee Bain and Tuc running the show. Some of the vets had difficulty running at all.
I am not sure who added to the goal tally but a betting man would place Savio Genini on the card. And so it became 4-1 to the young guns. The vets were playing for pride and this was partially restored by a great second goal for the vets from Corky, but only after he had wrestled Lee Bain to the ground in what  looked like a serious attempt  to get his New Year kiss!
The young guns ended up 4-2 winners and remain the custodians of the Cup. A great atmosphere yet again and the club would like to thank all visitors and supporters for turning out to add to the atmosphere.

Kingussie Camanachd club have produced a 2014 souvenir calendar to celebrate the 1914 Camanachd Cup winning team and to remember the Kingussie men who served their country during the Great War, 1914 – 18. Six of the victorious 1914 team laid down their lives for their country during the conflict.
On the 4^th of April 1914 a special train left Aviemore at 6am carrying 200 passengers to the Camanachd Cup Final at Possil Park in Glasgow to see Kingussie play Kyles Athletic. Although Kyles opened the scoring Kingussie produced one of the best performances in the clubs history to win 6 – 1 and add the Camanachd Cup to the Mactavish Cup they had already won that season. Nobody realised at the time it would be the last competitive match the club would play for many years and some of the players would never play for the club again.
Exactly four months later on Tuesday 4^th of August 1914 the Headquarters of Scottish Command in Edinburgh received a telegram from the British Government which simply read “mobilise”. Britain had declared war on Germany. At noon on the 5^th of August the Kingussie contingent of the Cameron Highlanders left Kingussie Railway station to join their unit in Inverness before heading south to Bedford to prepare for War.
It was at Neuve Chapelle in March 1915 that the Kingussie men got their first introduction to the grim realities of war. Eleven months after celebrating a Camanachd Cup victory on a field in Glasgow the young men from Kingussie were in frontline action in the fields of Northern France. It was at the Battle of Festubert that the first member of the Kingussie Shinty squad was killed. John Macpherson died on the first night of the battle on the 17th of May 1915. William Macgillivray, the Camanachd Cup winning captain from the year before, was killed the next day.
A young Kingussie territorial sent a letter home describing the Battle of Festubert. An extract reads….. “We got the order to march to the front trenches at 5pm on 17^th May, 1915. We had to wait 20 minutes while our artillery were shelling the German position. Then we got the order to fix bayonets and charge. As we went over the top the German gunners opened fire on us, but we kept on. Our boys were getting bowled over but we reached the German frontline trench and found they had evacuated it. In the morning at roll call there were 30 Kingussie boys amongst the dead and wounded. I don’t know how we weren’t all killed.”
The Camanachd Association produced a roll of honour after World War One to remember the Shinty players who gave their lives in the conflict. As the preface to the roll of honour states; “Players of the old national pastime of the Highlands readily came forward and laid down their lives in the greater game of war, when the contest was for King and country”
This calendar is A3 size and features profiles of the 1914 players alongside the 2013 players and includes 22 action photographs from the 2013 season as well as squad pictures. It is available to buy from various outlets in the town including Gow’s Garage, Pam’s Coffee shop, Silverfjord, Star, Duke and Caberfeidh Horizons (book shop). Enquiries can be made via our website or facebook pages.
The calendar is being produced to honour all Kingussie men who went to war in the
1914 – 18 conflict, those who died and those who returned, Shinty players or not, and 100 years later we pay tribute to the bravery and courage of the men of our town.

Lest we forget.

Kingussie under 14′s won the Marine Harvest North Division 1 Title with a 5-0 win over Beauly. The goals came from Ben Mitchell who opened the scoring with Roddy Young adding two to make it 3-0 at half time. Beauly had their moments of pressure but some very skilful work from the Kingussie defence kept the lead safe and well. The second half gave Kingussie more of a cushion with Ruaridh Anderson and Dylan Borthwick adding their names to the score sheet. Tears were seen to roll down the faces of coaches Iain Borthwick and Dallas Young as Captain Calum Grant was presented with the trophy. Not for the first time has this website mentioned the potential of this young squad. They are great to watch and a delight to work with. There is no doubt that they have years of success ahead of them if they keep up their commitment and efforts. The club would like to thank all parents who have turned out in good numbers to support the team all season.

The Winning Squad

Captain Calum Grant getting presented with the trophy

A great picture showing all the playing squad for the 2013 season

Kingussie Under 14 Shinty Team..with the Ian Nicolson Memorial Cup

Kingussie under 14s made the long trip to Portree last Friday to play Skye Camanachd in their League One under 14 match with the added incentive of playing for the Ian Nicolson Memorial Cup.
Kingussie had the wind behind them in the first half and were fully deserved of their 1-0 lead at half time following a great strike by Ruaridh Anderson. The second half saw Skye put Kingussie under a lot of pressure but the defence held out well until Skye equalised on 50mins.Kingussie were still making chances and a good passing move was finished well by Roddy Young to make it 2-1. A disputed penalty was awarded and the Skye fullback drilled it home to equalise.
The game was flowing from end to end and with only minutes remaining a Roddy Young shot was saved well by the keeper but Ben Mitchell ran in to score and make it 3-2.The final whistle blew to end a fiercely fought game played in a very sporting manner which was a credit to both sides.

Not a St Vincent’s day out as Dal suggested! Summer shinty at its best. Two home victories and 27C to boot. Great day out at The Dell