CLONAKILTY Soccer Club will begin the defence of their Beamish Cup crown – and launch their three-in-a-row bid – with an opening test against Bunratty United.

The Clon team has bossed this competition in the past few seasons and will start out as a team to beat again this season, but they’ll be wary of this preliminary round tie with Championship outfit Bunratty.

This is a repeat of last year’s semi-final that Clonakilty eventually won 4-1, but in the earlier cup rounds Clon had narrow 1-0 wins against Bay Rovers and Togher Celtic, and know the pitfalls of cup football. The winner of Bunratty v Clon will advance to round one to face Drinagh Rangers B.

There are two more preliminary round games, as Baltimore play Beara United, and Aultagh Celtic B take on last season’s giantkillers Ardfield who went all the way to the final – the winners of these two games will meet in round one. The preliminary round is scheduled for Sunday, January 4th.

Dunmanway Town will take on Drinagh Rangers in a huge round-one tie.

There is one standout round one tie, as Premier heavyweights Dunmanway Town and Drinagh Rangers will face off. Dunmanway have a knack of winning the Beamish Cup, and won three in four seasons before Clonakilty Soccer Club’s recent success. But Town were shock casualties in the preliminary round last season, losing 4-3 to surprise packets Ardfield who took out several big guns in their cup run. Drinagh, without a Beamish Cup title since 2018, also lost to Ardfield last season, going down in the semi-final.

Also in round one, Lyre Rovers will be fancied to overcome Mizen Hob, but also will know the danger of a cup upset here, while the clash of Championship high-fliers Bay Rovers and Premier outfit Castletown Celtic will be worth keeping an eye on.

Elsewhere, Spartak Mossgrove meet Castlelack in a battle of two Championship teams, Skibbereen will plot a shock win against Premier team Togher Celtic, and Aultagh Celtic take on Skibbereen Celtic in an all-Championship tie.

The 2025/26 Beamish Cup draw is as follows:

PRELIMINARY ROUND: Sunday, January 4th – Baltimore v Beara United, Aultagh Celtic B v Ardfield; Bunratty United v Clonakilty Soccer Club

ROUND 1: Sunday, January 4th – Lyre Rovers v Mizen Hob, Bay Rovers v Castletown Celtic, Spartak Mossgrove v Castlelack, Skibbereen v Togher Celtic, Dunmanway Town v Drinagh Rangers, Aultagh Celtic v Skibbereen Celtic. Sunday, January 18th – Baltimore/ Beara United v Aultagh Celtic B/Ardfield B, Bunratty United/Clonakilty Soccer Club v Drinagh Rangers B.

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In the West Cork League Women’s Cup, 11-a-side, there are two first-round ties, as Bandon take on defending champions Drinagh Rangers, and Mizen AFC meet Dunmanway Town. In round two, Clonakilty United meet Sullane, Drinagh Rangers B play last season’s beaten finalists Lyre Rovers, Aultagh Celtic face Beara United, and the winner of Bandon/Drinagh Rangers takes on the winner of Mizen AFC/Dunmanway Town.