The Camanachd Association have announced the first snippets of fixture news for the 2024 season with the draws for the Strathdearn and Single Team Club Cups.
With the ferry timetables changing early this year that means that Kinlochshiel will make their first ever competitive journey to Lewis, and their first appearance at Shawbost on 27th April in the Strathdearn Cup. Shiel, who were losing finalists last year, memorably came to Lewis to play in the Iolaire Memorial match on New Year’s Day 2019 and won 4-0 at Bayhead. The only other time the two clubs have met was in 2022 in a 5-0 win for Shiel in the Strathdearn at Reraig. The winner’s will host the winner of the Badenoch derby between 2022 winners Newtonmore and Kingussie on the 25th of May.
It’s a matter of history repeating itself in the awkwardly named Single Team Club Cup but this time with the twist that last year’s winners Glengarry, who gave us a 10-0 defeat in the same competition last year will have to travel to Shawbost on the 18th of May. This will be Glengarry’s first trip over to Lewis in several years and will be a real challenge to overcome if Lewis are to secure a first ever national semi final against either Ballachulish, Al Reed’s Uddingston, or Wester Ross friendly rivals Lochcarron on the 22nd of June.
The HIS Sir William Sutherland Cup will be drawn in the coming weeks.