The 2025 Railway Cup fires into life this weekend with the semi-finals on Saturday afternoon.

The draw for the Manx Car Store-sponsored tournament has produced two intriguing matches between the top four in the Canada Life Premier League at the halfway point of the campaign.

Last year’s runners-up Peel entertain Laxey at Douglas Road in the first clash, while the other pits this season’s surprise package, Onchan, against runaway league leaders Corinthians.

The latter match is scheduled to take place at the Nivison Stadium but, should the pitch be deemed unplayable, discussions have taken place regarding it being switched to Corinthians’ pitch at Ballafletcher.

Both Peel and Laxey were beaten by eventual winners Ayre United in last year’s competition, the westerners after extra-time in the final, so both will be hoping to improve on that this time around.

The two sides have a contrasting history in the competition, with Peel having won it no fewer than 22 times, their most recent being in 2018-19 when beating St George’s 3-2 in the final.

Laxey have won the Railway Cup three times in their history, most recently in 2006 when also defeating Geordies 1-0 thanks to Rob Sorby’s 87th-minute penalty.

Both Onchan and Corinthians have also tasted success in this competition, albeit many decades apart.

The Os won the trophy way back in 1938-39 when stunning the previously dominant Braddan 2-1 in the final, while Corinthians won it in the recent 2017–18 and 2020–21 seasons with 4-0 and 1-0 successes over St George’s and Rushen United respectively.

Both promise to be intriguing semi-finals which could go either way.