Kinlochshiel inflict first Premiership defeat on Kingussie to open up title race in shinty's top division
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Kinlochshiel may still be relying on a favour from other teams if they are to win this season's Premiership, but they can now say they have accomplished something nobody else has this year – beat Kingussie in the league.
The Badenoch giants threatened to be runaway winners of shinty's top flight this season, only dropping a single point going into this weekend.
At Balmacara, though, 'Shiel made home advantage count to hold on to a 1–0 win over the league leaders, with John MacRae's 15th minute strike making all the difference.
That result leaves Kinlochshiel, currently second in the table, seven points behind the Kings with two games in hand – and only a handful of matches left on the calendar.
Elsewhere, Caberfeidh took a big step away from a relegation battle after seeing off bottom of the table Kilmallie 5–1.
Craig Morrison scored twice inside the opening 10 minutes, with Ben MacDonald putting further daylight between the sides in the 20th minute.
Kevin Bartlett then joined in on the act, scoring twice after the interval to render Daniel Stewart's 77th minute goal for Kilmallie no more than a consolation.
Cabers are five points clear of the drop zone and will still be looking further up the table, but with Glasgow Mid Argyll and Fort William still having games in hand below them their position in next year's Premiership is not completely assured just yet.
Further down the leagues, Kinlochshiel's reserves and Lochcarron each suffered defeats in the North Division One.
In 'Shiels' case, they would have thought Archie MacRae and Seumas Martin's goals had earned the points before Dylan Borthwick scored a hat trick for Kingussie.
Lochcarron were also on the wrong end of a hat trick against Inverness, with Charlie MacDonald's treble overshadowing Daniel Ross' single goal for the hosts.
