Major cup finals have been like proverbial buses for Inveraray shinty manager Davie Macpherson this season: wait ages for one and three come along at once.
The Argyll club go into today's MacAulay Cup final in Oban against holders Kingussie with the Glasgow Celtic Society Cup already gathering dust in the cabinet.
There is also the not insignificant matter of the televised 100th Camanachd Cup final approaching on September 22.
Indeed, had the man who guided the Royal Burgh outfit to their first Camanachd Cup win in 70 years not already decided this would be his last term in management, he might have been tempted to stay on.
Three trophies would, of course, be a decent send-off but shinty's big two, Kingussie and Fort William, must be negotiated first.
Should the MacAulay trophy - almost lost to Shinty after protracted wranglings last year - end up in Loch Fyneside tonight, it will be a triumph over odds.
Firstly, Kingussie have exerted such an unshakeable grip on this elegant trophy that it could almost be called the Kingussie, rather than MacAulay, Cup.
Secondly, Inveraray have been left without a pitch on which to train after a clear-up operation in the wake of last weekend's Connect Music Festival damaged their famous park.
The club practise and play on land owned by the Duke of Argyll in the grounds of Inveraray Castle - the venue for the two-day rock concert which featured Bjork and Idlewild.
Afterwards, forklift operators left great gouges in the goalmouths, casting doubts over whether the pitch will be playable again this season.
"It's definitely not ideal, with two major finals coming up," shrugs Macpherson, who has become accustomed to scaling obstacles in his tenure at the Winterton.
Winning the Camanachd Cup in 2004 will go down as his lasting legacy although this season could yet surpass that watershed campaign.
"I must admit, with everything that happened to us after winning the Camanachd, I didn't think we'd be back so soon but the boys have done well, as have the second team." If there is one regret Macpherson does have, it is that his father Donald won't be around to see the next two finals. An Inveraray legend and a shinty player from the age of five, Macpherson Sr passed away recently in his 91st year.
"He would have been chuffed to bits to think we were in this final and the 100th Camanachd Cup final. After his work and family, shinty was his life and he kept coming to games when he could."
While Inveraray start as underdogs, Kingussie will go into the final hurting.
The recent hammering at the hands of Fort William means they will not contest the Centenary Camanachd final. That only makes today's showpiece more vital.
"I suppose we have something to prove," said Ian Ross, their manager.
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