The 2018–19 Irish Cup (known as the Tennent's Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) was the 139th edition of the

Irish Cup The Irish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly referred to as the Irish Cup (currently known as the Clearer Water Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) is the primary Association football, football single elimination, knockout cup compet ...

, the premier knockout cup competition in

Northern Irish The people of Northern Ireland are all people born in Northern Ireland and having, at the time of their birth, at least one parent who is a British Nationality Law, British citizen, an Irish nationality law, Irish citizen or is otherwis ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

. The competition began on 11 August 2018 and concluded with the final at

Windsor Park The National Football Stadium at Windsor Park (officially the Clearer Twist National Stadium at Windsor Park for sponsorship reasons), or the National Football Stadium, also known as Windsor Park is a association football, football stadium in B ...

on 4 May 2019.

Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, No ...

were the defending champions, having defeated

Cliftonville Cliftonville is a coastal area of Margate in the Thanet District, Thanet district of Kent, England. It includes the Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay estate, built in the 1930s with wide avenues and detached and semi-detached houses with driveways, gar ...

in the 2018 final.

Crusaders The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding ...

were the eventual winners, defeating second-tier side Ballinamallard United 3–0 in the final to lift the Cup for the fourth time overall, and the first time in the 10 years since winning the 2009 final.

Format and schedule

All ties level after 90 minutes used extra time to determine the winner, with a penalty shoot-out to follow if necessary. 126 clubs entered this season's competition – a reduction of four clubs compared with the 2017–18 total of 130 clubs. 90 regional league clubs from tiers 4–7 in the

Northern Ireland football league system The Northern Ireland football league system is categorised into three levels: senior, intermediate and junior. Clubs attain intermediate status by fulfilling certain criteria (e.g. owning or leasing its own enclosed ground). Senior status requires ...

entered the competition in the first round, with 76 of them drawn into 38 first round fixtures and the remaining 14 clubs receiving a bye into the second round. The 38 first-round winners were joined by the 14 byes and the 12 clubs of the

NIFL Premier Intermediate League The NIFL Premier Intermediate League (Known as the Playr-Fit NIFL Premier Intermediate League for sponsorship reasons) is the third level of the Northern Ireland Football League, the national association football league in Northern Ireland, and t ...

in the second round. After two further rounds, the eight surviving clubs joined the 24 senior

NIFL Premiership The NIFL Premiership, known as the Sports Direct Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and Irish Premiership colloquially, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northern Ireland Football L ...

and NIFL Championship clubs in the fifth round. All ties level after 90 minutes used extra time to determine the winner, with a penalty shoot-out to follow if necessary.

Results

First round

Ties played on 11 and 18 August 2018.Tennent's Irish Cup 2017/18 – First Round Draw
/ref> * Valley Rangers 3–2 Tandragee Rovers * Albert Foundry 4–3

Aquinas Thomas Aquinas ( ; ; – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest, the foremost Scholasticism, Scholastic thinker, as well as one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in the W ...

Ardstraw Ardstraw (from (hill or height of the holm or strath)) is a small village, townland and civil parish in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, three miles northwest of Newtownstewart. In the 2001 census, it had a population of 222 people (in 81 hous ...

7–0 Dromore Amateurs * Ballymacash Rangers 1–3 Kilmore Recreation * Ballynahinch United 3–2 Groomsport * Banbridge Rangers 2–0

Sirocco Works Sirocco Works, officially Sirocco Engineering Works, was an engineering firm based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. The site is located beside Short Strand, adjacent to Bridge End and River Lagan. It was founded by Samuel Cleland Davidson in 1881 unde ...

* Bangor Amateurs 3–2

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

* Brantwood 4–2 Orangefield Old Boys * Broomhedge Maghaberry 1–12 Ballynahinch Olympic * Comber Recreation 1–0 Immaculata * Cookstown Youth 1–6

Islandmagee Islandmagee () is a peninsula and civil parish on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, located between the towns of Larne and Whitehead. It is part of the Mid and East Antrim Borough Council area and is a sparsely populated rur ...

* Crumlin United 2–1 Bangor Swifts * Desertmartin 2–2 Ballynure Old Boys (''Desertmartin won 7–6 on pens'') * Dungiven Celtic 5–2 Iveagh United * Dunloy 2–0

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

* Dunmurry Young Men 4–5 Rathfriland Rangers * Fivemiletown United 7–0 Bloomfield * Glebe Rangers 1–2 Bangor * Grove United 5–2 Chimney Corner * Holywood 1–2 Newbuildings United * Killyleagh YC 5–3 Markethill Swifts * Lisburn Rangers 2–1 Dromara Village * Lower Maze 2–3 Trojans * Malachians 2–9 Maiden City *

Mossley Mossley (/ˈmɒzli/) is a town and civil parish in Tameside, Greater Manchester, England, in the upper River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame Valley and the foothills of the Pennines, south-east of Oldham and east of Manchester. The town grew ...

3–4 Dunmurry Rec. * Newtowne 6–3 18th Newtownabbey Old Boys * Oxford Sunnyside 6–3 Bryansburn Rangers * Oxford United Stars 0–1 Wakehurst * Rosario YC 1–2 Ballymoney United * Saintfield United 1–3 Laurelvale * Seapatrick 1–6 Coagh United *

Silverwood Silverwood Theme Park is an amusement park located near the city of Athol, Idaho, Athol in northern Idaho, United States, near the town of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, Coeur d'Alene, approximately from Spokane, Washington on U.S. Route 95 in Idaho, US ...

1–8

Shorts Shorts are a garment worn over the pelvic area, circling the waist and splitting to cover the upper part of the legs, sometimes extending down to the knees but not covering the entire length of the leg. They are called "shorts" because they ar ...

* St James' Swifts 2–1 Sofia Farmer * St Luke's 0–2 Larne Tech Old Boys * Strabane Athletic 2–1 Derriaghy Cricket Club *

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

1–1 Colin Valley (''Colin Valley won 4–3 on pens'') * Tullycarnet 4–3 Tullyvallen * Woodvale 2–3 St Patrick's Young Men

Second round

The twelve members of the

joined the competition at this stage as well as the first-round winners and byes. Ties played on Saturday 29 September 2018. * Newington 3–1 Valley Rangers (''played on Friday 28 September'') * Ballymoney United 1–5 Strabane Athletic * Banbridge Town 3–1 Rathfriland Rangers * Bangor 2–0 Banbridge Rangers * Bangor Amateurs 0–1 Tullycarnet * Brantwood 2–1 Laurelvale * Colin Valley 3–4

* Comber Rec 4–1 Lisburn Rangers * Crewe United 2–1

Moyola Park Moyola Park is a country estate near Castledawson, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It was formerly the home of Lady Moyola and Lord Moyola, former Prime Minister of Northern Ireland. The estate is and is home to Moyola Park Golf ...

* Crumlin United 5–1 Moneyslane * Downshire Young Men 0–4 Drumaness Mills * Dundonald 0–3 Larne Tech Old Boys * Dunloy 2–0 Armagh City * Dunmurry Rec. 1–4 Dungiven Celtic * Grove United 3–4 Abbey Villa (aet) *

2–1 Albert Foundry * Killyleagh YC 2–3 Crumlin Star * Kilmore Recreation 1–2 Sport & Leisure Swifts * Lisburn Distillery 2–0 Wellington Recreation * Lurgan Celtic v St Patrick's Young Men (''Lurgan Celtic received bye'') * Lurgan Town 4–1 Desertmartin * Maiden City 3–1 Trojans * Newbuildings United 2–0 Ards Rangers * Newtowne 0–0 Ballynahinch Olympic (''Newtowne won 5–3 on pens'') * Oxford Sunnyside v

Portstewart Portstewart () is a small seaside town in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 7,854 people in the 2021 United Kingdom census. It is a seaside resort, neighbouring both Coleraine in County Londonderry and Portrush in Cou ...

(''Portstewart received bye'') * Queen's University 4–3

Dollingstown Dollingstown is a large village in County Down, Northern Ireland, lying between Lurgan and Magheralin. It is within the Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon district. In the 2011 census it had a population of 2,103 people. Dollingstown is in the to ...

* Rosemount Recreation 2–1 Annagh United * Seagoe 4–3 Ballynahinch United * Shankill United 2–1 1st Bangor Old Boys * St. James' Swifts 4–2 Coagh United * Tobermore United 5–3

* Wakehurst 2–3 Fivemiletown United

Third round

Ties were played Saturday 3 November 2018. * Crewe United 1–0 Sport & Leisure Swifts * Crumlin Star 5–3 Bangor * Crumlin United 1–3

* Drumaness Mills 1–2 Comber Recreation * Fivemiletown United 1–2 Tullycarnet * Larne Tech Old Boys 2–1 Dungiven Celtic * Lurgan Celtic 2–3

* Lurgan Town 1–2 Dunloy * Newtowne 1–1 Rosemount Recreation (''Rosemount Recreation won 5–3 on penalties'') * Queen's University 6–3 Tobermore United * Seagoe 1–4 Maiden City * Shankill United 2–4 Lisburn Distillery *

1–3 Abbey Villa * St James' Swifts 2–0 Newbuildings United * Strabane Athletic 2–0 Banbridge Town * Brantwood 2–3 Newington

Fourth round

Ties were played on Saturday 1 December 2018. * Crewe United 1–2 Crumlin Star * Dunloy 0–2 Larne Tech Old Boys * Lisburn Distillery 4–3 Comber Recreation * Maiden City 1–0

* Queen's University 4–1 Newington * Rosemount Recreation 3–1

* Strabane Athletic 2–0 St James' Swifts * Tullycarnet 3–4 Abbey Villa

Fifth round

Ties were played on Saturday 5 January 2019.

Sixth round

Four ties were played on 2 February 2019, with four ties postponed to 11 February.

Quarter-finals

Ties were played on 1 and 2 March 2019.

Semi-finals

''Ties were played on 30 March 2019.''

Final

The final was played on 4 May 2019.

References

External links

Irish FA Domestic Cup Competitions – Irish Cup

nifootball.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:2018-19 Irish Cup Irish Cup seasons

Cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...