Dunmanway Town’s quest for fourth Beamish Cup title in five seasons off to winning start

BY SEÁN HOLLAND

BEAMISH Cup champions Dunmanway Town began their search for a fourth title in five years with a 4-2 win over Sullane B.

Oran McCarthy (2), Ray Jennings and Aaron O’Driscoll were on the mark for Dunmanway in this first-round tie on Sunday. Sullane’s two goals came from Szymon Sanetra. After overcoming one Sullane side, Dunmanway will have to do it again, as they will travel to take on the first team in round two.

The past week marked the start of the 2023/24 Beamish Cup with a packed schedule, as 18 teams were in action in both rounds one and two. The headline clash was the round one meeting of Clonakilty Soccer Club and Clonakilty United, with the premier division side coming out on top 2-1. See match report.

In the other cup derby, the round-two meeting of Skibbereen Celtic and Skibbereen AFC, like in Clonakilty, went the way of the Premier Division side It finished 3-1 to AFC, with Kevin O’Donovan (2) and Cian O’Brien netting the goals. Celtic’s solitary goal came from Eoin O’Donovan. Skibbereen AFC now progresses to the next round.

Three other sides who made full use of their bye into round two were Castletown Celtic, Lyre Rovers, and Spartak Mossgrove. Championship leaders Castletown had to come from behind in extra time to beat Premier Division side Mizen Hob A, 3-2. The game finished 1-1 when Jack O’Callaghan’s early opener for Castletown was cancelled out by Gerald O’Callaghan before the half. Mizen started the quickest in extra time with Ryan O’Neill netting five minutes into the period. However, Castletown were not to be denied as Matthew Draper and Jack O’Callaghan scored to send the Championship leaders into round three.

Lyre Rovers had a much-needed 3-0 win over Baltimore to help progress into the third round. Mark Kelly, Kevin Keohane, and Aaron Griffin were all on the scoresheet for Lyre.

Spartak Mossgrove left it late to get over Aultagh Celtic B when three goals in the last 20 minutes gave them a 3-1 victory. Sean McCarthy opened the scoring for Aultagh in the 21st minute and they held that advantage until the 70th when Olan Walsh equalised for Spartak. Five minutes later Ronan McSweeney made it 2-1 to the hosts, with Dara McSweeney settling the tie in added time.

In round one, it was a successful day for Drinagh Rangers. Their first side played out a five-goal thriller, defeating Bunratty United 3-2. Barry O’Driscoll (H), Tom McQueen, and Ciarán O’Regan gave Drinagh a three-goal lead. Bunratty fought back with goals from Conor Brosnan and Pa Sheehan but it was the Canon Crowley Park side that advanced.

The Drinagh Bs needed extra time to get the better of Castlelack, eventually winning 2-1. Damien Fernandez got Drinagh off the mark in the 35th minute but Castlelack replied with 15 minutes to go to send it to extra time. Cillian Fitzpatrick ended up being the hero for Drinagh with his goal in the second half of extra time making it two Drinagh sides into the next round.

Drinagh Bs will now face Clonakilty Soccer Club in round two. Their first side will host Aultagh Celtic, who claimed a big win over Premier Division side Beara, 5-3. Aultagh had five different scorers with three coming from Barry, Gary, and Colm O’Neill. Sean Moynihan and Brian Dineen were the others to hit the net for Aultagh. Beara’s goals were scored by Brian Collins, Declan Dunne, and Nico Schiavi.

In the 2023/24 WCL Women's Cup, it was the Celtics who came out on top with both Aultagh Celtic and Kilgoban registering 1-0 victories. Kate Corcoran got the goal for Kilgoban as they downed Beara United where Mia Boucher got the winner for Kilgoban against Drinagh B.