Lochcarron Camanachd
| Lochcarron | |||
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| Full name | Lochcarron Camanachd | ||
| Gaelic name | Comann Camanachd Loch Carrainn | ||
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| Nickname | The Kishorn Camandoes | ||
| Founded | 1883 | ||
| Ground | Battery Park, Lochcarron | ||
| Manager | Ross Brown | ||
| League | North Division Two | ||
| 2015 | 9th (North Division One) | ||
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Lochcarron Camanachd is a shinty club from Wester Ross, Scotland. Until 2012 it had two teams, a senior team which was relegated from the Marine Harvest Premier Division in 2007 and a reserve team which played in the North Division Three. However, in 2013, the club came to the decision to reduce to one team, starting off in North Division Three. This team sealed promotion with a second-place finish as well as a losing Sir William Sutherland Cup final appearance.
History
Founded in 1883, Lochcarron Camanachd is one of the oldest in the west Highlands. In its first century the Club won the Strathdearn Cup eight times and the Sutherland Cup six times as well as winning its league division on many occasions.
The early nineties were a particular success for Lochcarron, as having temporarily reduced to one team, they went from North Division Four to the Premier Division in quick succession. [1]
The first team reached the club's only senior final, the Macaulay Cup final in 2001, where they were beaten 3-0 by Inveraray. They then won the National First Division Championship in 2002 and the Balliemore Cup also in 2002. Amongst the key players in this era were Kenny Ross and Fraser MacKenzie.[2] The club was voted Marine Harvest Club of the Year 2002. The club was chosen as the Highland Sports Development Association Club of the Year 2003, a first for the sport of shinty. The club also secured a third spot finish in the Premier Division. However, the club then went into decline, narrowly avoiding relegation in 2006. After finishing bottom of the Premier Division, they had to defeat Kyles Athletic in a playoff.
The club was relegated in 2007 after a prolonged season, with their final match being played against Inveraray in Kiltarlity on 8 December 2007 - a 2-2 draw was not enough to overhaul Oban Camanachd. The club only finished 4th in North Division One in 2008 and was threatened with relegation again at the end of the 2009 season to North Division Two. This would have had far reaching repercussions for the club which would have seen their second team (which had failed to fulfil several fixtures) be disbanded.
However, the club received a reprieve from relegation as Glenurquhart rejected the chance to have their reserve team promoted from North Division Two despite new bye-laws permitting reserve sides to do this. The club retained its place in North One for 2010 and also retained its second team.[3] The club was rocked early in 2010 by the resignation of Alasdair "Gaiter" MacKenzie as manager, he was swiftly replaced by Murdo John Fraser.[4]
After a few tough seasons, the decision was made to start again at the bottom of the Shinty League System in 2013. This voluntary relegation did not start smoothly with two heavy defeats and then a draw to lowly Lewis. However, Lochcarron soon adapted to their new surroundings and clinched promotion as well as appearing in the Sutherland Cup final which they lost to fellow voluntary relegated team Ballachulish. However, co-manager Kenny Murray left for Lewis Camanachd as Ross Brown came in as manager. League reconstruction saw the Camandoes promoted twice, ahead of their desired development, and they inevitable finished the 2015 season at the bottom of North Division One.
Today the Club has a reputation for its youth development and represents shinty in Sportscotland’s national youth sports programme. The club actively supports shinty at both its local senior school Plockton High and Lochcarron Primary School and through the recently formed Ross & Sutherland Shinty Development Association. The club plays at the Battery Park in Lochcarron (opposite the Bank of Scotland) on its newly extended pitch, complete with modern changing rooms.
Lochcarron have local rivals Kinlochshiel in which they compete annually in the Tommy Ross memorial cup. The club has a large amount of MacKenzies involved with the club and the varying different families are often differentiated by inter-generational nicknames, such as "Ham", "Jek" and "Gaiter".[5]
Youth Success
Lochcarron has always boasted a fine reputation for youth development and has gone on to supply the best teams with vital Stars, and the 2014 season for under 17's proved that the coaches are doing something right. With a very young team, but experienced all the same, prolific coach Dave MacCuish fought bravely to ensure that they played their best. Lochcarron were hepled greatly with the addition of some pivotal players from their local rivals Kinlochshiel, but the lads from kirkton made themselves at home and soon founded great relationships with the club and all its affiliates. The Legendary Team that won their league and came close finalists in both cup competitions are as follows.
Goal keeper: Matthew "The Kitten" Young (Lochcarron) Full back: Jonnie "The bear" MacAskill (Kinlochshiel) LW back: Alasdair Shillaker (Lochcarron) RW back: Samuel Parsons (Lochcarron) Half back: Nathan "NathDawg" Whear (Kinlochshiel) LW centre: Duncan Campbell (Kinlochshiel) Full centre: Nick "Nicholas" Dalgetty (Lochcarron) RW centre: Chris Townsend (Kinlochshiel) Half forward: Fergus "Fergs" Dobson (Kinlochshiel) LW forward: Liam Arnott (Lochcarron) RW forward: Fraser Stewart (Lochcarron) Full forward: Colin "Barvas" MacRae (Kinlochshiel)
The season started extremelly well for the boys in blue and white with 7 wins on the trot and only 1 goal conceded. The defence was a perfect mixture of speed, strength, skill and pure aggression. Full Back MacAskill and Half Back Whear both made sure that any threats were whiped out and made sure any Players on the opposite team that thought they were hard were dealt with using the highest of brutality. The centre line were of the highest quality, with the promising Nick Dalgetty running the show. The forward pack were vicious and swiped up every opportunity, Colin MacRae and Fergus Dobson both proved vital for the Lochcarron youngsters. A promising future awaits all the young players.
External links
- Lochcarron Homepage
- Lochcarron Camanachd Blog
- Profile of 2007 Squad
- Lochcarron Camanachd @ shinty.com
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| Former Teams | ||
| Non-league and University teams | ||
| Women's shinty | ||
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