The GH Corlett Woods Cup fires into life this weekend with teams battling it out in the preliminary round of the competition.

The annual tournament sees sides from JCK Division Two fight for a place in the final which traditionally takes place on Good Friday of Easter weekend, which this year falls on March 30.

The draw for the opening round has produced several interesting clashes and the match of the day is arguably in Crosby where Marown host Onchan at the Memorial Playing Fields, in a repeat of last year’s competition.

These two teams are among the form sides in the second division of Manx football, with both outfits having won four of their last five matches.

Last year it was Onchan who triumphed in this fixture, Joe Rees scoring four times as the Os emerged 5-2 winners, and their current league positions suggest a similar outcome could be on the cards.

However, Marown have really got the bit between their teeth at the moment and Dave Brew’s men stunned title hopefuls Pulrose United recently, therefore they will be confident of claiming another scalp here.

There is also an intriguing game in store at Clagh Vane where Malew host a Pully side desperate to get back to winning ways after that aforementioned defeat to Marown.

Boasting a formidable forward line featuring Marc Priestnal, Stephen Glover and Barry English, Paul Guiver’s Springfield Road side have the quality to go all the way in this competition but it remains to be seen how they can bounce back from their first defeat in more than three months.

Malew impressed against Onchan recently when holding them to a draw and the excellent form of Dean Kinley means they have every chance of piling more misery on Pulrose, therefore this game could go either way.

It could be a similar story at Garey Mooar where Union Mills and RYCOB will battle it out to book their place in the first round proper.

The Millers have, like many teams, been hit with several postponements of late so they may not be completely match sharp, whereas Youthie seem to have got their season back on track in recent weeks thanks to three successive wins.

Those victories came after the pre-season title favourites suffered a mid-season slump which, ironically, started with a 2-1 defeat at the hands of this weekend’s opponents. Therefore, both sides will be up for this and it could well go the distance.

Douglas and District have become cup specialists in recent years and they will be hoping to continue that this season, starting with their match at home to Gymns this weekend.

The pair were meant to meet in the league at Tromode last weekend but the game fell victim to the weather. They last met in October when D&D triumphed 4-2 at Noble’s Park thanks to goals from Owen Stewart, Danny Scott, Ben Hall and Dale Kenna, and they will be favourites to claim a similar result this time around, although Gymns could give them a run for their money.

The day’s late kickoff sees Governor’s Athletic host Michael United at Bemahague in a match which kicks off at 2.30pm.

Governor’s lie bottom of the table in JCK Division Two a couple of points behind Michael who are one place above them, therefore a tight game could be on the cards this weekend.