Parish Cup draw throws up some enticing fixtures

Whalsay with the Parish Cup following their 2-1 victory over Delting. Photo: Kevin Jones

The draw was made for this year’s football competition at the Parish Cup Association’s annual general meeting on Monday evening.

Holders Whalsay, who defeated Delting in last year’s final, have been handed a tricky draw. To progress to the final they will have to see off Whitedale in the preliminary round, Southend United in the quarter-final and either Unst or Delting in the semi-final.

The other half of the draw would seem to favour Westside United, who memorably won the trophy for the first time two years ago. They are drawn against Cunningsburgh in the preliminary round with a possible meeting with Yell or Sandwick in the quarter-finals and Bressay or Burra in the last four

The full draw is – preliminary round (Saturday 16th May): Yell v Sandwick; Westside United v Cunningsburgh; Whalsay v Whitedale.

Quarter-finals (Saturday 6th June): Bressay v Burra; Unst v Delting; Westside United or Cunningsburgh v Yell or Sandwick; Southend United v Whalsay or Whitedale.

Semi-finals (Saturday 18th July): Westside United, Cunningsburgh, Yell or Sandwick v Bressay or Burra; Southend United, Whalsay or Whitedale v Unst or Delting.

The final is scheduled for Saturday 15th August at Gilbertson Park in Lerwick.

There was a lengthy discussion at Monday’s meeting regarding the future of the under-21 tournament, which in its current seven-a-side one-day tournament format, has not taken place since 2009 due to lack of participating teams.

Spokesman John Rosie said: “Effort is therefore being made to resurrect the 11-a-side knockout format for the 2015 season and all member clubs are currently investigating if this is a viable option in terms of numbers of eligible players.

“In this regard, any such tournament in this format is likely to result in some neighbouring parishes joining forces to enter combined teams as has happened in previous years.”

This year’s four-a-side indoor tournament is to take place at the West Mainland Leisure Centre on Sunday 29th March with a 1pm start.