CHRIS Collins is the man with the Midas touch – the Clonakilty Soccer Club goal machine has scored an astonishing 68 goals in two seasons.
After hitting the back of the net 35 times in the 2023/24 campaign as Clonakilty won the Premier Division and Beamish Cup double, Collins scored 33 goals in all competitions this season to fire his side to the quadruple.
So, it was another memorable West Cork League season for Collins and his club that swept to glory in the Premier Division and Beamish Cup again, and also in the Premier Division Cup and Micheal Cronin Cup.
But how has Collins developed into such a clinical attacker?
‘It’s crazy. I used to only score five or six goals every season but when Lorne (Edmead) came in as a coach three years ago, he pushed me forward and gave me a free role,’ Collins explained to The Southern Star.
‘Things have just clicked. I don’t know what it is. I don’t know what the secret is or anything but they seem to be going in now, thank God. For anyone to score over 30 goals is absolutely frightening, I never dreamed of doing something like that.’
If a player scores that many goals, it suggests that striker is their preferred position and scoring goals is what they want to do. But that isn’t necessarily the case for Collins who has played his part in a deadly attacking trio alongside Joe Edmead and Jack O’Crowley.
‘I definitely do (enjoy playing striker) but I see myself as being a bit deeper and leaving Joe as being a striker. I’d have more joy in setting up a goal than I would in scoring one,’ Collins said.
‘There is kind of an understanding between us that we don’t need to do or say anything. We can just find each other without a whole lot of communication, which you need when we are scoring as many goals as we are. It is not only the two of them though – Alan Ward has been playing up there and there have been many more.
‘It’s been a whole squad effort. You need a big squad, because there will be days when people are missing or there are injuries.’
Chris Collins goes past Drinagh Rangers' Keith Jagoe during their recent Premier Division clash.
Defending the league title and the Beamish Cup this season was always going to be a difficult task. But John Leahy’s team rose to the challenge. They didn’t stop there, however, and also captured the Premier Division Cup and Michael Cronin Cup. To win 24 out of 28 games in all competitions this season, and go unbeaten in the league, proved their dominance. ‘We knew we were the hunted rather than the hunters after what we did last year. We would have been happy with one of the four trophies. To win the four of them is absolutely unthinkable really so it was a good season,’ Collins said.
‘I think Drinagh Rangers won five (trophies) one year but other than that, teams pick up trophies here and there. It’s so competitive in the West Cork League. We weren’t getting ahead of ourselves at all. We would have been hoping for a Beamish Cup or a league title. To win the league the way we did, going unbeaten, was a very nice touch.’
The competition for places in this all-conquering Clonakilty team is driving standards. Seven players started both the 2025 league title decider and 2024 Beamish Cup final against Drinagh Rangers. Only four of these seven players started the title decider against Drinagh in 2024. Clon haven’t rested on their laurels but they have developed on their squad.
‘You need some elder statesmen around the place, driving it on with a bit of experience and cool heads. You also need two or three young fellas every year just to drive it on and give the lads a bit of a boost, and so that your position is never safe and there is a fella willing to get in ahead of you,’ Collins explained.
‘We’re training twice a week and have a match on a Sunday. If there is no match, we make the effort to go out training. There are 20 lads at nearly every training session. Anyone can do a job for you. Anyone could be starting. Mousey (John Leahy) and Lorne, to be fair to them, have done a good job in managing the thing all year, trying to keep lads happy. That’s not an easy job.’
There were dark times for Clonakilty soccer but right now they are riding the crest of a wave. They are the best team in the West Cork League, and they want to stay top of the charts.
‘Winning breeds winning – I hope we can stay on top of the wave for as long as possible,’ added Collins, and if he keeps up his goal-scoring rate then Clonakilty Soccer Club will be hard to stop.
