Shinty - live TV coverage of the big game

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

The Scottish Cup final takes place this Saturday in Oban.  BBC Alba will have live coverage from 2pm, with commentary, as far as I know, in English, not Gaelic.  The throw-up (start of the game) is at 2.10pm.

The two teams are Lovat and Kinlochshiel.  The former come from a village west of Inverness, the latter from near Kyle of Lochalsh.  Looking back through the finals scores, since the first one in 1896, as far as I can see, this will be Kinlochshiel's first ever final.  Lovat lost in 1925, then won, after a drawn first final, in 1953.  They then had to wait until 2015 for their next appearance, when they won in Oban (a game I was at).  Since then, they have lost in the final twice, in 2017 and 2018.

After that Oban game in 2015, my friend and I were travelling back on an evening train to Glasgow.  We fell into conversation with a bemused and disappointed supporter of Kyles Athletic, the Tighnabruaich-based club who had just lost to Lovat, 1-2.  "Typical Lovat", he said, "You play them off the park and then realise they have just beaten you by the odd goal!"