CAN the giant-killers do it again? Having stunned Drinagh Rangers A team earlier in the season, Drinagh B are targeting another shock result in a derby final of the Parkway Hotel/Mayburys Coaches Cup.
While Drinagh As will be favourites going into this final on Sunday in Canon Crowley Park (4pm), let’s not write off Ken Kingston’s B side that has made a habit of shocking the big guns.
In the semi-final of this competition, Drinagh Rangers B side beat Clonakilty Soccer Club 2-1, inflicting Clon’s first defeat in West Cork this season.
The B team has enjoyed an impressive season in the top flight, having won promotion from the Championship last season. They didn’t win a game until November 24th but that was a big one – they beat Drinagh A 1-0 in a stunning result.
Since then, they have won four more games in the league as well as two games in cup competitions. Head coach Ken Kingston feels this Sunday will mean more to the club than just a cup on the line.
‘Drinagh Rangers are the winner on Sunday. To have two teams in a final is a great thing,’ Kingston told The Southern Star.
‘I can’t say enough about the underage system in the club. We played a lot of U18s the last day (against Clonakilty), but we are confident enough to bring up those players. The underage structure is brilliant and it’s showing, especially in the B team.’
The structures put in place to make this happen can be traced back to great work behind the scenes. Mike Doolan was the man who kept the B team afloat until Kingston came in to continue the good work two and half years ago.
The B team is competing in their first campaign in the top flight and the objective was to stay up. They have done that. Now they are one win away from a cup title.
‘The biggest thing for me and for the club is to have two teams, that is a huge achievement. Firstly, having two teams in the Premier this year and then having two teams in a final is unbelievable for the club. It shows how strong the club is at underage. Ninety percent of the B players came through the Drinagh academy,’ Kingston said.
‘There is fierce credit to be given to the underage set-up for bringing players through and holding onto players. The game is a different story. The As are a fantastic team. They’ve won everything. They are favourites. We’ll give them a game of it anyway.’
To beat both Drinagh Rangers A and Clonakilty Soccer Club in the same season is a testament to the strength of this B team. However, it isn’t just those results that have shaped their season. There have been other standout scorelines.
‘If you look at the results in the league, we’ve got a result off every (Premier Division) team. We drew with Dunmanway (0-0), we drew with Castletown Celtic (2-2), we beat Togher Celtic (2-1). There is only a goal between teams in almost every game,’ Kingston said.
‘We played Clonakilty in the second game of the season and showed them too much respect and lost 2-0. In the cup semi-final we played our own game and had our homework done. It doesn’t surprise us though, we know what we have. It took us a few games to get going but since Christmas, we are absolutely flying it.’
The youth in this team is a great asset. Daniel Fernandes and Ryan Daly scored the goals against Clonakilty while Damien Fernandes, Cillian Fitzpatrick and Evan Fitzpatrick have been standouts offensively as well. Captain Steven Crowley has led the side while Gavin McCarthy, Denis O’Driscoll and Eoghan Daly have been solid defensively. They certainly have the potential to cause one more surprise.
‘We take every game as it comes and we want to beat everyone. The lads were well up for it against Clonakilty and they knew Drinagh were on the other side so that drove them on more to play the As in the final,’ Kingston said.
Now that they are there, Drinagh Rangers B will look to spring another surprise.
