Corinthians and Onchan will go head-to-head in the final of the Manx Quality Sheds Hospital Cup this weekend.

The two teams will lock horns at the Bowl on Saturday afternoon to contest the last piece of silverware available to Premier League sides this season.

Both have enjoyed good campaigns, with Corinthians aiming to make it a hat-trick of trophies having already clinched the Railway Cup and FA Cup earlier in the season, as well as finishing second behind champions Peel.

Onchan, meanwhile, have been one of the standout stories of the season, surprising most and exceeding expectations to occupy the upper echelons of the league table.

Having narrowly avoided relegation to Division Two at the end of the 2024-25 campaign, James O’Kelly’s charges have upset the applecart by qualifying for the Railway Cup semi-finals for the first time in nearly 90 years and ending in a lofty fifth place in the league table.

More recent history favours Corinthians this weekend, with the Whites having already won all three previous meetings this season, ensuring they will be odds on to add more silverware to the burgeoning Ballafletcher trophy cabinet.

Corinthians won 3-1 and 3-6 in the two leagues meetings at Ballafletcher and the Nivison Stadium respectively, while the pair also met in the semi-finals of this season’s Railway Cup, with the Whites coming out on top 4-1 at the Bowl in December.

But Onchan should not be discounted, having already beaten the likes of Rushen United, St Mary’s, Laxey and Ayre United this season.

The latest team news also levels the playing field slightly, as Corinthians are without several star players.

Ronan McDonnell, Ash Higginbotham, Luke Murray, Joe Middleton and Jack Moyer are all out injured, while mainstay centre-back Stewart Smith is suspended having been shown a red card during the Whites’ Hospital Cup quarter-final clash with Ayre United.

But Ben Qualtrough’s side have been boosted by the return of Nathan Little who is back in the island from America.

Coupled with the free-scoring attackers such as Sean Doyle, Dan Simpson, Josh Ridings and Connor Clark, Corinthians are still blessed with so many dangermen that it’s difficult to look past them winning this weekend.

But Onchan manager James O’Kelly has a near full-strength team at his disposal for Saturday’s showdown at the national stadium.

Tom Creer – who has enjoyed an excellent season for the Os, plundering no fewer than 25 goals – will lead the line alongside the likes of Ethan Leivers who has also chipped in with an impressive haul of 16 goals and Andy Asbridge with 13 strikes to his name.

The rest of the squad is in good health for their last match of the season, with the exception of Max Shirley and James Leece.

The latter is away and unavailable, while Shirley unfortunately suffered a ruptured Achilles during a recent Cowell Cup match and is therefore set for a lengthy spell on the sidelines which is a blow for the Nivison Stadium outfit.

The weekend’s Hospital Cup final kicks off at the Bowl at 2pm on Saturday afternoon – a report and photos from the match will appear in next week’s edition of the Isle of Man Examiner, on sale Tuesday morning.