The 2018–19 Irish Cup (known as the Tennent's Irish Cup for sponsorship purposes) was the 139th edition of the Irish Cup, the premier knockout cup competition in Northern Irish football. The competition began on 11 August 2018 and concluded with the final at Windsor Park on 4 May 2019.
Coleraine were the defending champions, having defeated Cliftonville in the 2018 final. Crusaders 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 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 in the second round. After two further rounds, the eight surviving clubs joined the 24 senior NIFL Premiership 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.
RoundFirst match dateFixturesClubs First round 11 August 2018 38 126 → 88 Second round 28 September 2018 32 88 → 56 Third round 3 November 2018 16 56 → 40 Fourth round 1 December 2018 8 40 → 32 Fifth round 5 January 2019 16 32 → 16 Sixth round 2 February 2019 8 16 → 8 Quarter-finals 1 March 2019 4 8 → 4 Semi-finals 30 March 2019 2 4 → 2 Final 4 May 2019 1 2 → 1
TiersLeaguesNo. of EntriesEntry round1NIFL Premiership24Fifth round2NIFL Championship3NIFL Premier Intermediate League12Second round4Ballymena & Provincial Football League Premier DivisionMid-Ulster Football League Intermediate ANorthern Amateur Football League Premier DivisionNorthern Ireland Intermediate League90First round, or Second round if byed5Mid-Ulster Football League Intermediate BNorthern Amateur Football League Division 1A6Northern Amateur Football League Division 1B7Northern Amateur Football League Division 1C
Results
First round Ties played on 11 and 18 August 2018.Tennent's Irish Cup 2017/18 – First Round Draw
Valley Rangers 3–2 Tandragee Rovers Albert Foundry 4–3 Aquinas Ardstraw 7–0 Dromore Amateurs Ballymacash Rangers 1–3 Kilmore Recreation Ballynahinch United 3–2 Groomsport Banbridge Rangers 2–0 Sirocco Works Bangor Amateurs 3–2 Newcastle Brantwood 4–2 Orangefield Old Boys Broomhedge Maghaberry 1–12 Ballynahinch Olympic Comber Recreation 1–0 Immaculata Cookstown Youth 1–6 Islandmagee 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 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 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 1–8 Shorts St James' Swifts 2–1 Sofia Farmer St Luke's 0–2 Larne Tech Old Boys Strabane Athletic 2–1 Derriaghy Cricket Club Suffolk 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 NIFL Premier Intermediate League 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 Shorts Comber Rec 4–1 Lisburn Rangers Crewe United 2–1 Moyola Park 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) Islandmagee 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 received bye) Queen's University 4–3 Dollingstown 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 Ardstraw 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 Islandmagee Drumaness Mills 1–2 Comber Recreation Fivemiletown United 1–2 Tullycarnet Larne Tech Old Boys 2–1 Dungiven Celtic Lurgan Celtic 2–3 Portstewart 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 Shorts 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 Portstewart Queen's University 4–1 Newington Rosemount Recreation 3–1 Islandmagee 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