The 2009–10 Setanta Sports Cup was the 5th staging of the cross-border Setanta Sports Cup competition - which featured football clubs from the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It commenced on 28 August 2009, and the final was played on 15 May 2010, with Bohemians defeating St Patrick's Athletic 1–0 to claim their first Setanta Cup triumph.
On 22 June 2009, the draw for the competition was postponed because of the financial troubles of organiser Setanta Sports. However, on 19 July 2009, it was confirmed that the competition would be going ahead as planned, and the draw was made at FAI headquarters in Abbotstown, Dublin, on 28 July.
Changes to structure
In the 2009–10 season, the Setanta Cup was expanded to nine teams, comprising three groups of three. The three group winners qualified for the semi-finals, as did the group runner-up with the best record. Teams were drawn from the top four of both leagues,Setanta Sports Cup to be expanded - eircomloi.ie with an additional place for the winners of the previous competition, Cork City. In a further change to the format of previous years, games were expected to take place on weekends instead of midweek.Setanta matches moved to weekends - BBC Sport
Group stages
Teams that progressed to the semi-finals are indicated in bold type.
Teams eliminated from the Setanta Sports Cup this stage are indicated in italics.
Group 1 TeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts Sligo Rovers4310114+710 Cork City411238-54 Cliftonville410357-23
Postponed due to waterlogged pitch
Due to Cork City's resignation from the competition, Sligo Rovers were awarded a 3-0 win
Due to Cork City's resignation from the competition, Cliftonville were awarded a 3-0 win
Group 2 TeamPldWDLGFGAGDPts Bohemians422063+38 Glentoran41215505 Coleraine402236-32
Group 3 TeamPldWDLFAGDPts Linfield422062+48 St Patrick's Athletic412153+25 Derry City402228-62
Derry City ceased to exist, St Patrick's Athletic awarded 3-0 winDerry City FC removed from Setanta Cup - RTÉ Sport
Derry City ceased to exist, Linfield awarded 3-0 winDerry City FC removed from Setanta Cup - RTÉ Sport
Semi finals
First leg
Second leg
St Patrick's Athletic won 6 − 2 on aggregate
Bohemians won 3 − 1 on aggregate
Final
Winner of 2009–10 Setanta Sports Cup Bohemians1st Title
Goalscorers 2 goals
Darren Boyce (Coleraine) Paul Byrne (St Patrick's Athletic) Raffaele Cretaro (Bohemians) Paddy Madden (Bohemians) Dean Marshall (Sligo Rovers) Rob Turner (Sligo Rovers) Andrew Waterworth (Glentoran)
1 goal
Pádraig Amond (Sligo Rovers) Jason Bannon (Cliftonville) Liam Boyce (Cliftonville) Jason Byrne (Bohemians) Gareth Coughlan (St Patrick's Athletic) Paul Deasy (Cork City) Mark Doninger (Sligo Rovers) Eoin Doyle (Sligo Rovers) Jim Ervin (Linfield) Daryl Fordyce (Glentoran) Joe Gamble (Cork City) Ryan Guy (St Patrick's Athletic) Andrew Hall (Glentoran) Gary Hamilton (Glentoran) Owen Heary (Bohemians) John Lester (St Patrick's Athletic) Damian Lynch (St Patrick's Athletic) David McAllister (St Patrick's Athletic) Mark McAllister (Linfield) Jason McGuinness (Bohemians) Tam McManus (Derry City) Paul Munster (Linfield) Anto Murphy (Bohemians) Conor O'Grady (Sligo Rovers) Ken Oman (Bohemians) Rory Patterson (Coleraine) Mark Rossiter (Bohemians) Richie Ryan (Sligo Rovers) Guntars Silagailis (Cork City) Thomas Stewart (Derry City) Peter Thompson (Linfield) Danny Ventre (Sligo Rovers) Alex Williams (St Patrick's Athletic)
References