Both the island club's first and second teams begin their competitive programme this Saturday, March 6, when the first team travel to newly-
promoted Glasgow Mid-Argyll, and the second team take on Col-Glen in
Rothesay.

And first team coach and club president Barry Martin says the club's senior side - who missed out on their last chance of some pre-season match practice when their friendly at Glenorchy last Saturday was frozen off - have been given a great chance to get their campaign off to a good start.

"I'd like to think that the luck of the fixture list has handed us a great chance to pick up six points at the start of the season," he told us.

"Mid Argyll have just been promoted, and then we're at home to Lovat, the other newly-promoted side, next week, and at home to Glenurquhart the week after that.

"None of those games will be easy, we know that, but if we could get six points in the bag early on, hopefully everyone will settle down and we won't feel as if the pressure is on us from the start."

Memories are still fresh in the Bute camp of the dramatic finish to the first team's 2009 campaign, when they avoided relegation to the regional leagues by the skin of their teeth with wins over Inveraray and Oban Camanachd in their final two fixtures.

And it's more or less the same pool of players who pulled off that great escape who will get the new season under way in Yoker on Saturday, against a GMA side who last played in the top flight 13 years ago.

The Glasgow club were promoted despite only finishing second in South Division One, because champions Lochside Rovers are Oban Camanachd's junior team, and the Camanachd Association's rules prevent two teams from the same club playing in the same division.

"I don't think there have been any changes in the Mid Argyll ranks," the Bute coach continued, "although they did get some pre-season practice in when they played on an all-weather surface against Skye a couple of weeks ago.

"As far as we're concerned, we're all fighting fit - we just need to get our sleeves rolled up and get on with it.

"There's no doubt that the boys have got the ability to do better than they did last season - it's just a question of them applying themselves."

Bute's second team, meanwhile, did at least get some match practice in on February 20, in a 1-1 draw away to Strachur.

That could give them a slight advantage going into their opening South Division Two fixture this Saturday - a local derby against Col-Glen at the Meadows, a clash which is always guaranteed to have a little extra edge with local pride as well as league points at stake.

* Bute's opening Premier League game against Glasgow Mid-Argyll gets under way this Saturday at 2.30pm at Peterson Park in Yoker.

The Bute second team's home fixture with Col-Glen also has a 2.30pm throw-up at the Meadows in Rothesay.