To engage with shinty is to take the chance to savour the very best of Scottish geography, gain some insight into its history and be prompted to consider anew the implications of politics upon sport.

Oban may seem a remote spot for a major national final but only from the rather ignorant perspective of a Lowlander who cannot be bothered to pick up a map and discover that it is at around the midway point in the country, just north of the early national capital of Kilmartin no less, back at the time of the arrival of the original Scots back in the Dalriada era.

A fair choice of venue, then, for the Macaulay Cup final in that getting there is pretty much equally inconvenient for both teams, 90 miles and two and a quarter hours’ drive from Newtonmore, 80 miles and just under two hours from Tighnabruich, home of their opponents today, Kyles Athletic, all of which is nothing to what would have confronted Skye - who next week contest the Camanachd Cup semi-final - had they won their way through in this competition. That would have entailed a 167 mile, four hour 20 minute drive and road is the only real option. It all places complaints from Glasgow-based sports writers about trips to Aberdeen, Inverness and even Dingwall into a bit of perspective.

Consider, too, that shinty is claimed to be older than Christianity and place that in the context of the contribution we know Scotland and Scotsmen made to the popularisation of team sport, football in particular, in the late 19th and early 20th century, a process that began almost immediately after the Highland clearances were completed. Had the status of the Highlands not been undermined as it was where might shinty stand among global sports with its similarities to, hockey, so popular in what is soon to be the world’s biggest nation India, as well as across Europe and the Antipodes and more particularly, ice hockey which is so culturally important in North America and the colder parts of Europe?

There will be further time to ponder that this afternoon on the always pleasant escape northwards from the central belt to what is now Scotland’s seafood and island hopping capital for the final of a competition that is designed as a clash of Scotland’s geographic north with its south.

It is by masterful design that there is a unique identity to each of shinty’s four major cups which, along with the Marine Harvest Premiership comprise its Grand Slam competitions. On the basis of the previous season’s national league placings the top eight teams from each contest this one, which is considered to be second in prestige only to the Camanachd Cup and this year it has added significance because the winners of the previous two, the MacTavish Cup that is contested only among the northern clubs and the Celtic Society Cup, only by the southern contingent, have come through to face one another.

Both Newtonmore and Kyles Athletic are also in contention for the Premiership title in which the former are seeking to break new ground by winning it for a record eighth time, but what makes their domination of the cup competitions to this point all the more intriguing is that there is no guarantee that either will finish as national champions, since Kinlochshiel remain very much in the mix in the league.

Of the three only Newtonmore can still win the elusive Grand Slam this season, albeit their poor start to the league campaign means they still have most to do with five matches remaining in the league, while the Macaulay Cup final represents an opportunity for a bit of revenge for Kyles, whose season came close to being derailed last month by their opponents who hail from what is (harking back in this piece a little), pretty much the geographic centre of Scotland.

Kyles were very much the Premiership pace-setters and had already won the Celtic Society Cup when they headed to Newtonmore on consecutive weekends last month and suffered successive defeats which ended their Camanachd Cup ambitions and cost them their unbeaten league record.

They have reasserted themselves in the league since and an unanswered seven goal thrashing of Glenurquhart last weekend was an indicator that they have recovered their very best form, albeit Newtonmore were also banging in four against Glasgow Mid-Argyll to remain in contention.

Those results go some way towards indicating what makes this final extremely difficult to predict, because statistically Kyles are the most prolific force in the sport this season, having scored 10 more goals than any of their rivals in the Premiership and they have lost just two matches this season. However both those defeats have, as referred to previously, come at the hands of this battle hardened Newtonmore side that has the knack of finding a way to win the matches that matter, developed over all these years of title success.