The 2019 Scottish Challenge Cup final, also known as the IRN-BRU Cup final for sponsorship reasons, was a football match that took place on 23 March 2019, between Ross County and Connah's Quay Nomads. It was the 28th final of the Scottish Challenge Cup since it was first organised in 1990 to celebrate the centenary of the now defunct Scottish Football League, and the sixth since the SPFL was formed. Connah's Quay became the first club from outside Scotland to reach the final since the competition was first expanded to include guest teams from other countries in 2016–17.
Route to the final
The competition is a knock-out tournament and was contested by 58 teams from Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in 2018–19. Two teams from the English National League (fifth tier) were added to the competition in 2018–19, following the addition of teams from Wales and Northern Ireland in 2016–17 and the Republic of Ireland in 2017–18.
Ross County Round Opposition Score First round Heart of Midlothian U21s (a) 2–1 Second round Raith Rovers (h) 5–0 Third round Montrose (h) 3–1 Quarter-final Motherwell U21s (a) 2–1 Semi-final East Fife (h) 2–1
Connah's Quay Nomads As one of the guest teams from Wales, Connah's Quay Nomads received a bye to the second round.
Round Opposition Score Second round Falkirk (a) 1–0 Third round Coleraine (h) 2–0 Quarter-final Queen's Park (a) 2–1 Semi-final Edinburgh City (h) 1–1 5–4
The choice of Inverness as the venue for the final caused some controversy, with the Highland city being only from Ross County's home in Dingwall but a distance of for Connah's Quay Nomads; previous finals had typically been held further south in Scotland's Central Belt.
Match details
GK1 John DanbyRB15 Danny Holmes CB18 Priestly Farquharson (c) CB5 George HoranLB14 Adam Barton CM8 Callum Morris CM6 Danny Harrison LM17 Michael ParkerRM22 Michael Bakare FW9 Michael WildeFW10 Andy Owens Substitutes:GK20 Lewis BrassDF2 John DisneyMF7 Ryan Wignall MF12 Declan Poole MF16 James OwenMF19 Jake Phillips MF21 Robert HughesManager: Andy Morrison GK21 Ross MunroRB2 Marcus Fraser (c)CB15 Keith WatsonCB12 Andy BoyleLB28 Kenny van der WegRM10 Declan McManus CM8 Jamie LindsayCM26 Don Cowie LM7 Michael Gardyne FW27 Ross Stewart FW19 Brian Graham Substitutes:GK1 Scott FoxDF3 Sean Kelly MF14 Josh Mullin MF16 Lewis Spence MF24 Harry PatonMF31 Daniel Armstrong DF44 Tom GrivostiManager: Stuart Kettlewell and Steve FergusonMan of the match: Josh Mullin Match rules 90 minutes. 30 minutes of extra-time if necessary. Penalty shoot-out if scores still level. Seven named substitutes. Maximum of three substitutions.
References