Without so much as a semi-final ball being kicked, it has already been a historic campaign for Amateur League clubs in the Steel and Sons Cup.
Indeed, as we enter the last-four of a competition that carries more significance than most, we already knew that, going into the quarter-finals, the winner would hail from the NAFL.
That has added spice to arguably the most prestigious of all intermediate honours in Northern Ireland football – thanks in no small part to its Christmas Day finale – and, therefore, two cracker match-ups are anticipated between a quartet of contenders each as determined as each other to write their names into a new Steel Cup chapter.
Firstly, on Friday night, Comber Rec and Greenisland will do battle at Seaview in north Belfast, while Monday evening sees Derriaghy CC take on Crumlin Star at Blanchflower Park to the east of the city.
In the first clash, peninsula outfit Comber – the most emphatic of the quarter-final winners when they bested Holywood 4-0 at Parkway – are the on-paper favourites given they are a full two divisions above their Glenkeen Avenue adversaries, but don’t be at all fooled into thinking the end of Greenisland’s crusade is a foregone conclusion.
After all, the east Antrim outfit took down an Abbey Villa unit one league higher than them in the last round, while the Division 1B side caused one of the great all-time upsets of the Steel and Sons when they conquered PIL high-flyers Ballymacash Rangers on their own Bluebell patch during the last-16.
At the Blanchflower, meanwhile, it’s an all-Premier tussle between Intermediate Cup holders Star and Derriaghy, the highest-placed team league-wise in the last-four as they sit in fourth position going into this coming Monday’s bonanza.
Caveat that, though, with the disparities in fixtures played; north Belfast-based Star, who hail from the Marrowbone Sports Complex, are seventh-place but have played just three times in the league to date – and won them all.
Comber have played just twice, too, but they also have two wins to their name, and that means they and Star hold the Amateur League top-flight’s sole perfect records.
Derriaghy, who are themselves unbeaten with three wins and two draws from five fixtures played, will heed that and not be undaunted. In the quarters, they eked past Willowbank on penalties following a 1-1 draw in west Belfast, while Star nudged beyond East Belfast 2-1 in a repeat of last season’s Intermediate semi-final.
They went on to conquer St Oliver Plunkett in the Windsor Park showpiece and scooped up a piece of silverware they’ll be desperate to add to.
Can they count on usual suspects like Joseph McNeill, Noel Halfpenny, Kevin Lynch, Francis Nolan and James Doyle to help them into another decider before the year’s out? Or will a Derriaghy team that includes the recently re-captured Jamal Dupree have the last laugh?
They will already know their adversary. League rivals Comber, who have already got a taste of what Greenisland are about after Matt Tumilson and Elliot Wilson finishes inspired a comeback 2-1 success at Parkway in the Border Cup last week – Conal McWilliams-Small had put the underdogs ahead at the interval – will hope for similar fortunes and less stress this time around.
Comber won their only Steel and Sons Cup 32 years ago, while Greenisland – famed for being the gateway into football for Evans brothers Jonny and Corry – will be fired up to complete the job after just falling short.
What will also inspire their fight is that they have not won the Toals-sponsored competition before and, after an 8-0 home thumping at the hands of last year’s Steel champions Bangor spelt the end of their exploits in August last time around, that they have got this far speaks volumes of their progress and their character.
The least fancied of the four teams, that should not mean Greenisland are dismissed out of hand – and Comber can’t let complacency seep in.
Meanwhile, Derriaghy and Star, who also haven’t yet had the privilege of storing this 128-year-old prize in their cabinet, will harbour dreams that this year may well be their year.
And they may not get a better chance, at least in the near future.
For having won the Intermediate Cup twice in the last five years, as well as a trio of Amateur League titles on the trot between 2017 and 2019, the Steel hasn’t been a safe haven for Star.
They haven’t even reached a Final before – and neither have Derriaghy, who brought the Border Cup back to Seycon Park in 2022 but have not contested this festive showpiece.
Getting there is the hardest part, and don’t underestimate how much it means to players, coaches and fans alike to be involved in this spectacle either. So often they chant about how fun it is to clinch the cup on Christmas Day… and that’s no joke.
Bangor and Dunmurry Rec played it out on the 24th December last year, and it sincerely felt like Christmas had come a day early.
The uniqueness and prestige that comes with the time of year contributes hugely to that. On Christmas Day, your team is the centre of attention and, as a player, you find yourself playing in front of a crowd like no match you’ve featured in before.
Be it a four-figure box-office crowd packed inside Seaview, the sheer scale of media attention or the pure satisfaction of making it an occasion to remember – even more so knowing that the holidays could be spoiled otherwise – there’s a long list of reasons why the Steel and Sons Cup is so deeply treasured by domestic football connoisseurs.
This year offers an all-new dimension. The Amateur League dimension, factoring in such high stakes of both these two last-four duels.
The three-quarter chance of a first-time winner. The one-quarter chance that a 1B team ruins prediction sheets and goes all the way. The 100 per cent chance of thrills and spills that will determine the cup’s fate.
The very best of luck to all four semi-finalists in their bids to become the latest to enjoy Steel success.
Believe me, the magical sense of occasion when you are in the decider is everything they say it is and more.
Featured image from Jim Corr, via Belfast Media.
- It’s unfair to put blame at feet of Linfield and Cliftonville for Irish Cup Final crowd disorder
A penny for the thoughts of Linfield and Cliftonville this week. This year’s Irish Cup Final was a spectacular in every sense. Nearly 15,000 packed inside Windsor Park for the biggest-attended domestic fixture in Northern Ireland this century and an occasion to savour that, for the most part, featured backing from both sides that supported… Read more: It’s unfair to put blame at feet of Linfield and Cliftonville for Irish Cup Final crowd disorder - Irish League chiefs must improve provisions in place to attract younger fans and families
Let’s get a basic fact of life out of the way first – no one likes a price hike. No one likes a price hike in the same way that no one likes paying taxes, bills, debts, insurance and other such necessary expenses which, in themselves, are rising amid a general rise in the cost… Read more: Irish League chiefs must improve provisions in place to attract younger fans and families - How the Irish FA’s new ‘Conference Layer’ for intermediate football can be big hit or own goal
Changes to the intermediate football sphere in Northern Ireland have long been touted and, going by the Irish FA’s latest update on the topic, closer than ever to coming to fruition. From the 2026-27 campaign, a new ‘Conference Layer’ will be in effect as part of a radical shake-up of the intermediate levels of the… Read more: How the Irish FA’s new ‘Conference Layer’ for intermediate football can be big hit or own goal - Steven McCullough’s crucial goal in relegation play-off seals him as a Ballymena United great
There’s been a change in priorities for Ballymena United during recent years – albeit not necessarily the type supporters would’ve perhaps wanted. In 2019, the Braidmen were the second best team in the Irish League. Runners-up behind Linfield that year, and just seven points adrift of top spot, the peak years of David Jeffrey’s tenure… Read more: Steven McCullough’s crucial goal in relegation play-off seals him as a Ballymena United great - Ending Cliftonville’s Irish Cup drought proves Jim can fix it… now he must target league glory
Finally, it’s Cliftonville’s year in the Irish Cup. An agonising waiting game ends at last and a drought that lasted 45 painful years is over in one burst of champagne rain. Since 1979, the Reds have contrived to fail in various ways in their pursuit of that elusive ninth Irish Cup – until a man… Read more: Ending Cliftonville’s Irish Cup drought proves Jim can fix it… now he must target league glory
Football Chatters 
Leave a comment