AND THEN there were two.
Defending champions Clonakilty Soccer Club take on giant-killers Ardfield in the 2025 Beamish Cup final in Turner’s Cross this Sunday at 12.30pm.
The double league and cup champions from last season come up against the team currently second from bottom in the Championship. Plus they are local rivals, meeting in the most prestigious game of the West Cork League calendar. Whatever the result, there is going to be a big story.
Clonakilty Soccer Club are chasing history. There have been teams that have won the two-in-a-row in both league and Beamish Cup but no team has ever done the double two seasons in a row since the turn of the century.
Clon won the league and cup double in 2024, beating Drinagh Rangers to both. Right now, they are in a good position to win the league again and are also just one win away from claiming the Beamish Cup.
Ardfield, on the other hand, have had a fairytale run to their first Beamish Cup decider since 2009. They knocked out Dunmanway Town, Beara United and Spartak Mossgrove on their way to the semi-final but beating Drinagh Rangers in the last four was the result that has made everyone take note.
It wasn’t as if it was a smash-and-grab win where they defended for their lives with limited possession, instead they won 3-1 and were in control for the majority. That win will give John Lawless’ team the belief that they can get their hands on the trophy. But their task is huge.
Clon are in top form right now and will be hard to stop. In West Cork competitions this season, they have not lost a game yet. That’s the size of the challenge awaiting Ardfield. Chris Collins has again been the main man for John Leahy’s team up front with 19 goals in all competitions down West. Jack O’Crowley, Joe Edmead and captain Rueben Henry have all impressed too.
The reigning champions may have only got over Bay Rovers and Togher Celtic by 1-0 margins in this cup run but their 4-1 win against Bunratty United showed that they are not just a team that finds a way.
Against Premier Division side Beara United this season, they scored TEN goals in February. Beara may be bottom of the Premier but Ardfield are second from bottom in the Championship, again emphasising the tough encounter that is to come.
Drinagh Rangers' Barry O'Driscoll (H) under pressure from Ardfield FC's Sam Linehan during the Beamish Cup semi-final at Skibbereen on Sunday. (Photo: Paddy Feen)What the underdogs do have though is belief and an ability to express themselves. In all rounds so far, they have had nothing to lose. Paul Hodnett is in flying form at the moment – 17 goals in all competitions including ten in the Beamish Cup with 13 goal involvements out of Ardfield’s 15.
Even when Hodnett doesn’t end up on the move, he plays a part. Against Drinagh, he contributed to all three goals, setting up both of Conor Twomey’s strikes as well as getting one himself. An underdog needs a player like that to have a chance.
In games against the Clons or the Drinaghs, you could only get two or three big opportunities, much like Celtic v Barcelona in 2012, but if you take those chances as well as defend for your lives at the back, the opportunity of a shock is there.
Twomey, captain Ben Linehan and Seán Lawless have all contributed well to Ardfield’s surprise run too with a will to win. If Ardfield were to get over the line, after only rejoining the WCL in 2023, this would surely be one of the stories of West Cork sport this year. There will be a headline either way this Sunday. Will it be about a team that dominates soccer in these parts or will it be one of rags to riches? All will be revealed.
