Parish Cup on the line as Stromness and Rendall meet once more

One of the most anticipated sporting events of the year will take place tomorrow evening, with Stromness and Rendall set to go head-to-head for The Orcadian Parish Cup.

Both sides booked their places in the final last weekend, with Rendall easing past Sanday and Stromness thumping Holm, to set up a re-run of last year’s showpiece.

Stromness beat their West Mainland counterparts in the Kirkwall rain 2-0 12 months ago to lift back-to-back Parish Cup’s, and are now gunning to become just the third side in the history of the competition to secure a hat-trick of consecutive Parish Cups.

In their way however, are a Rendall side determined to avenge last year’s defeat and get their hands on the famed football trophy for the first time in their history.

Both sides are expected to be at full-strength and littered with county players, with both managers — Rendall player and co-manager Colin Flett, and Stromness’s Alex Leonard — envisaging a tense and close conclusion to Orkney’s most popular football competition.

Leonard said: “I think it will be a very even and difficult match, but we’ve got as good a chance as Rendall do of winning that trophy, and it just has that extra special shine to it, I suppose, in the fact that it could possibly be three-in-a-row for us.”

His counterpart Flett said: “They’ve got strength throughout, but I would like to think we have players that can match them all over the park.”

The final is set to get underway at 6.45pm on Saturday evening, at the Pickaquoy Centre.