The 2014 League of Ireland Cup Final was the final match of the

2014 League of Ireland Cup The 2014 League of Ireland Cup, also known as the 2014 EA Sports Cup, was the 41st season of the Irish football knockout competition. Dundalk defeated Shamrock Rovers 3–2 in the final on 20 September. First round The draw for the First Roun ...

, called the EA Sports Cup for sponsorship purposes, a knock-out

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

competition contested annually by clubs affiliated with the League of Ireland. It took place on 20 September 2014 at Oriel Park in Dundalk, and was contested by

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

and

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí na Seamróige) is an Irish association football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is the most su ...

. Dundalk won the match 3–2 to win the competition for the fifth time.

Background

The League Cup was the first trophy of the

2014 League of Ireland Fourteen or 14 may refer to: * 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 15 * one of the years 14 BC, AD 14, 1914, 2014 Music * 14th (band), a British electronic music duo * ''14'' (David Garrett album), 2013 *''14'', an unrel ...

season. The two sides were meeting for the seventh time that season. Dundalk had beaten Rovers in both legs of the

2014 Setanta Sports Cup The 2014 Setanta Sports Cup was the ninth and final staging of the annual all-Ireland football competition. It commenced on 24 February 2014 and concluded on 10 May 2014 with the final. Shamrock Rovers were the defending champions, following a c ...

semi-final, and had won one and drawn one of the two league matches already played between the sides. In the

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Extra.ie FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as Derry ...

semi-final Rovers had won the replay 2–1 in Oriel Park after a 0–0 draw in the first game. Rovers were the League Cup holders and were chasing only their third win in the competition's history. To reach the final they had defeated

Drogheda United Drogheda United Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Dhroichead Átha Aontaithe) is a semi-professional Irish association football club based in Drogheda, County Louth playing in the League of Ireland Premier Division. They play their home matches ...

(2–1), Cork City (2–0), and

Bohemians Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Beer * National Bohemian, a brand brewed by Pabst * Bohemian, a brand of beer brewed by Molson Coors Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, origin ...

(2–0). Dundalk had last won the cup in

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

– their fourth win – and hadn't reached the final since 1995. They had overcome

Bray Wanderers Bray Wanderers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Fánaithe Bhré) are an Irish association football club playing in the League of Ireland First Division. The club in its present form was founded in 1942 in Bray, and was known until 2010 as ''B ...

(3–0),

Derry City Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

(2–1), and

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 N ...

(5–0) to reach the 2014 final. The match was broadcast live on

Setanta Sports Setanta Sports is a sports television company based in Dublin, Ireland broadcasting throughout select Eurasian. The company was formed in 1990 to facilitate the broadcasting of Irish sporting events to international audiences. The company previo ...

Match

Summary

The match was the third time the two sides had met in eight days, and the opening minutes saw a number of strong challenges. One such challenge resulted in a foul on David McMillan, and

Dane Massey Dane Massey (born 17 April 1988) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a defender for Bray Wanderers in the League of Ireland Premier Division. He has also played for Dundalk, Drogheda United and for the Republic of Ireland nationa ...

put Dundalk ahead from the subsequent free kick. They then sat back somewhat, and, with Rovers taking control and creating a number of chances,

Jason McGuinness Jason McGuinness (born 8 August 1982) is an Irish footballer. Career McGuinness played at youth level for Tolka Rovers, Sheriff Y.C. and Bohemians before graduating to the Bohs first team, making his league debut as a substitute against UCD ...

equalised from a corner. But Rovers failed to capitalise again before half-time, and, within minutes of the second half starting, Dundalk had established a two goal lead, with headers from Massey and

Patrick Hoban Patrick James Hoban (born 28 July 1991) is an Irish professional footballer who plays for Dundalk in the League of Ireland Premier Division, as a forward. He had his greatest successes in two spells at Dundalk, where he scored over 100 goals i ...

. Late on

Ciarán Kilduff Ciarán Kilduff (born 29 September 1988) is an Irish footballer who most recently played as a striker with Shelbourne in the League of Ireland Premier Division. He has played for seven clubs in the League of Ireland throughout his career and ...

headed home to give Rovers a chance. But Dundalk saw the match out to win their first trophy of Stephen Kenny's reign, which was also the first half of the club's first League and League Cup Double.

Details

References

External links

Match highlights from Setanta Sports via YouTube
{{Dundalk F.C. League of Ireland Cup finals League Cup Final

Cup Final The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football ev ...

League Of Ireland Cup Final 2014 League Of Ireland Cup Final 2014