2018 League of Ireland Cup

2018 League of Ireland Cup

EA Sports Cup
Tournament details
Country	Ireland
Dates	12 March – 16 September
Teams	24
Final positions
Champions	Derry City
Runner-up	Cobh Ramblers
Tournament statistics
Matches played	23
Top goal scorer(s)	Ronan Curtis (Derry City) Aaron McEneff (Derry City) James English (Shelbourne) Jamie Doyle (Shelbourne) (3 each)
←  2017 2019  →

The 2018 League of Ireland Cup, known for sponsorship reasons as the 2018 EA Sports Cup, was the 45th season of the League of Ireland's secondary knockout competition. The EA Sports Cup features teams from the SSE Airtricity League Premier and First Divisions, as well as some intermediate level teams. Derry City won the cup for a record 11th time.

Teams

Pool 1	Pool 2	Pool 3	Pool 4
Cobh Ramblers Cork City * Limerick * Waterford Wexford UCC	Cockhill Celtic Derry City * Finn Harps Galway United Mayo League Sligo Rovers *	Bray Wanderers Drogheda United Dundalk * Shelbourne St Patrick's Athletic * St Mochta's	Athlone Bohemians Cabinteely Longford Town * Shamrock Rovers * UCD

Clubs denoted with * received a bye into Second round

First round

All teams were divided into four pools based on geographical location. Two random teams per pool received a bye into the second round. The draw for the first round took place on 9 February 2018. Ties were scheduled to begin on 5 March 2018 but were subsequently postponed due to the aftermath of extreme weather from a cold wave known as the Beast from the East combined with Storm Emma. Rescheduled ties were set for various dates across March and April 2018.

Finn Harps v Mayo League

12 March 2018	Finn Harps	4–3	Mayo League	Finn Park
19:45	7' Devers 41' O'Connor 51' Toland 56' O'Flynn		59' 82' Lavelle 71 ' Morrissey

Wexford v Cobh Ramblers*

13 March 2018	Wexford	0–0 (a.e.t.) (7–8 p)	Cobh Ramblers*	Ferrycarraig Park
20:00

Galway United v Cockhill Celtic

19 March 2018	Galway United	1–0	Cockhill Celtic	Eamonn Deacy Park
19:45	51' Gill (OG)

Waterford v UCC

26 March 2018	Waterford	4–1	UCC	Regional Sports Centre
19:45	11' Martin 32' Puri 40' Daly 66' Akinade		55' Hennessy

Bray Wanderers v Shelbourne

26 March 2018	Bray Wanderers	0–3	Shelbourne	Carlisle Grounds
19:45			24' 61' English 29' Boyne	Attendance: 208 Referee: Alan Carey

Bohemians v Cabinteely

26 March 2018	Bohemians	5–1	Cabinteely	Dalymount Park
19:45	37' 76' Watts 38' 42' Manley 65' Grant		8' Fitzpatrick

Athlone Town v UCD

27 March 2018	Athlone Town	0–2	UCD	Athlone Town Stadium
19:45			34' Molloy 84' Mahdy

Drogheda United v St Mochta's

9 April 2018	Drogheda United	3–2	St Mochta's	United Park
19:45	28' Doyle 31' McPhillips 40' Meaney		20' Kelly (Pen) 89' Hughes

Second round

The draw for the Second round took place on 22 March 2018 and was made on a regional pool basis. Ties were scheduled for Easter Monday 2 April 2018. Four second round fixtures were postponed due to heavy rainfall causing unplayable pitches. Rearranged fixtures were set for 9 April, 23 April and 24 April.

Bohemians v U.C.D.

2 April 2018	Bohemians	2–2 (a.e.t.) (5–3 p)	U.C.D.	Dalymount Park
15:00	Eoghan Stokes 54' Jonathan Lunney 85' (pen.)	Report	Yousef Mahdy 21' Gary O’Neill 35'	Attendance: 314 Referee: Derek Tomney
	Penalties
	Dan Casey Jamie Hamilton Ryan Graydon Jonathan Lunney Eoghan Stokes		Gary O’Neill Timmy Molloy Ben Hanrahan Paul Doyle

Finn Harps v Derry City

2 April 2018	Finn Harps	1–2	Derry City	Finn Park
17:00	Ciaran Coll 11'	Report	Aaron McEneff 29' (pen.) Rory Patterson 63'	Attendance: 935 Referee: John McLoughlin

Galway United v Sligo Rovers

2 April 2018	Galway United	0–1	Sligo Rovers	Eamonn Deacy Park
17:00		Report	Adam Morgan 83'	Referee: Raymond Matthews

St Patrick's Athletic v Dundalk*

2 April 2018	St Patrick's Athletic	4–4 (a.e.t.) (7–8 p)	Dundalk*	Richmond Park
17:00	Fagan 58' Kelly 60' Leahy 97' Leahy 104'		Tagbajumi 3' Murray 45' Leahy 102' (og.) Massey 120'	Referee: Adriano Reale
	Penalties
	Fagan Clarke Doona Kelly Lennon Toner Leahy Madden Markey		Massey McGrath Poynton Adorján Gartland Mountney O'Donnell Folan Tagbajumi

Limerick v Cobh Ramblers

9 April 2018	Limerick	0–1	Cobh Ramblers	Markets Field
20:45			90' O'Riordan	Referee: Anthony Buttimer

Waterford* v Cork City

23 April 2018	Waterford*	1–1 (a.e.t.) (5–3 p)	Cork City	Regional Sports Centre
19:45	100' Duffus		112' O'Hanlon

Shelbourne v Drogheda United

24 April 2018	Shelbourne	7–2	Drogheda United	Tolka Park
	20' Mulcahy 22' Rooney 25' Kavanagh 27' 48' 90' Doyle 60' Farrell		69' Trimble 70' Hondermarck

Shamrock Rovers v Longford Town

24 April 2018	Shamrock Rovers	0–1	Longford Town	Tallaght Stadium
19:45		Report	Daniel O’Reilly 89'	Attendance: 304 Referee: Thomas Dempsey

Quarter-finals

The draw for the quarter-finals took place on 10 April 2018 and was an open draw, unlike previous rounds which were drawn on a geographic pooled basis. Ties are due to be played on 7/8 May 2018.

Derry City v Shelbourne

7 May 2018	Derry City	7–3	Shelbourne	Brandywell Stadium
17:00	Ronan Curtis 5', 15', 40' Ronan Hale 36' Aaron McEneff 43' (pen.) Nicky Low 83' Nathan Boyle 90'	Report	David O’Sullivan 21', 28' James English 81'	Attendance: 1000 (estimate) Referee: Damien MacGrait

Cobh Ramblers v Longford Town

8 May 2018	Cobh Ramblers	2–0	Longford Town	St. Colman's Park
19:30	Darren Murphy 43' Andrew Wall 88'	Report		Referee: Anthony Buttimer

Dundalk v Bohemians

8 May 2018	Dundalk	3–0	Bohemians	Oriel Park
19:45	Dylan Connolly 8', 21' Jamie McGrath 88'	Report		Attendance: 1,000 (estimate) Referee: Robert Rogers

Sligo Rovers v Waterford

8 May 2018	Sligo Rovers	1–0	Waterford	The Showgrounds
19:45	David Cawley 63'	Report		Referee: Paul McLaughlin

Semi-finals

The draw for the semi-finals of the 2018 EA Sports Cup was made on 13 May 2018. Both ties were played on 6 August 2018.

Sligo Rovers v Derry City

6 August 2018	Sligo Rovers	0–1	Derry City	The Showgrounds
17:00		Report	Rory Hale 24'	Referee: Graham Kelly

Cobh Ramblers v Dundalk

6 August 2018	Cobh Ramblers	1–0	Dundalk	St. Colman's Park
17:00	Christopher Hull 75'	Report		Referee: Sean Grant

Final

The final of the League of Ireland Cup took place on 16 September 2018. Home advantage was decided by a coin toss, which Derry City won.

Derry City v Cobh Ramblers

16 September 2018	Derry City	3–1	Cobh Ramblers	Brandywell Stadium
16:00	Ronan Hale 23' Darren Cole 54' Aaron McEneff 72' (pen.)	Report	Christopher Hull 26'	Attendance: 3,500 Referee: Ben Connolly

References

• EA Sports Cup first round draw courtesy of sseairtricityleague.ie
• First round draw postponements courtesy of extratime.ie
• EA Sports Cup second round draw courtesy of extratime.ie
• Second round postponements courtesy of irishmirror.ie
• Quarter-final draw courtesy of sseairtricityleague.ie
• Semi-final draw courtesy of fai.ie