NAIRN COUNTY WIN THE KEYLINE CUP - 2003 (Photographs courtesy of The Oban Times)

Nairn County deservedly won the 2003 Keyline Challenge Cup in Oban on Saturday 12th July. The Highland League side defeated Hearts 1-0, Inverness Caley 4-1 and Hamilton Accies1-0 and drew 1-1 with Oban Saints 

League Table

Oban Saints club secretary David Buchanan hands over the impressive Keyline Challenge Cup to Nairn County captain David MacDonald at the end of the tournament. 

Match Scores

Pitch	Team				Team	KO Time
Pitch 1	Nairn County	1	v	0	Hamilton	11.30 am
Pitch 2	Oban Saints	1	v	0	Hearts	11.30 am
Pitch 1	Hearts	0	v	0	Caley Thistle	12.20 pm
Pitch 2	Oban Saints	1	v	1	Nairn County	12.20 pm
Pitch 1	Caley Thistle	2	v	1	Oban Saints	1.10 pm
Pitch 2	Hamilton	0	v	0	Hearts	1.10 pm
Pitch 1	Oban Saints	0	v	2	Hamilton	2 pm
Pitch 2	Nairn County	4	v	1	Caley Thistle	2 pm
Pitch 1	Hearts	0	v	1	Nairn County	2.50 pm
Pitch 2	Caley Thistle	0	v	1	Hamilton	2.50 pm

Hearts, winners of the Keyline Cup in 2002, returned to defend the trophy, but found the opposition a lot harder this year. The youngsters from Edinburgh and their coaches John McGlynn and Gary Kirk are always welcome visitors to Oban

Hearts and Scotland favourite Gary MacKay hands over a new Hearts top to 'Jambos' fan Gavin Nicol. Also in the picture is care worker Kerry Buchanan, daughter of the Oban Saints secretary David Buchanan   

Scottish First Division side Inverness Caley Thistle have won the trophy
 on two occasions, and have been coming to the tournament for the past
 five years. The team from the Highland capital always put up
a good show on the day

Making their debut at the tournament were Scottish Second Division side Hamilton Accies under the guidance of coaches Jim Ward and John Bean. Accies new owner Ronnie MacDonald and his manager Allan Maitland are no strangers to the Keyline Cup as they have won the trophy with Maryhill Juniors and three times with Clyde

Oban Saints line-up.  Back Row (L to R): David Dunlop, Iain Jackson (manager), Duncan Campbell, Steven MacLeod, Allan MacKay, Joe Lopez, Dean Smith, Alex Grindlay, Colin Tindall, Peter MacCallum (coach), Daniel Cassells. Front Row (L to R) Callum Fox, Stephen Fox, Darin Bryars, Stephen Ewart (mascot), Mark MacCallum, John MacDonald and Aidan MacIntyre.

Host club Oban Saints won the Keyline Challenge Cup tournament the first ime it was played back in 1994. The highlight of this year's competition as far as Saints were concerned was the 1-0 defeat they inflicted over Hearts

 Oban Saints striker Darin Bryars outjumps a Hearts defender
in the Oban side's 1-0 win over their Edinburgh opponents

Darin Bryars wins another header in the game against Hearts
with Duncan Campbell (11) waiting to pounce 

Duncan Campbell is surrounded by Hearts defenders as he challenges
 for the ball in midfield

Nairn County captain David MacDonald (4) and Oban Saints striker Darin Bryars (9) challenge for a high ball. The game finished with honours even in a 1-1 draw

Darin Bryars gets a shot on target during the game with Nairn County. Looking on are colleagues Allan MacKay and Duncan Campbell 

Allan MacKay shields the ball from a Caley Thistle defender

Mark MacCallum  makes no mistake with his penalty kick against Inverness
 Caley. The Invereness side were awarded a penalty themselves later in
 the game which they eventually went on to win 2-1