2018 League of Ireland Cup

League of Ireland Cup 2018
Region	Republic of Ireland
Dates	March – September
Number of teams	24
Total matches played	23
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The 2018 League of Ireland Cup, known for sponsorship reasons as the 2018 EA Sports Cup, is the 45th season of the League of Ireland's secondary knockout competition. The EA Sports Cup features teams from the SSE Airtricity League Premier and First Divisions, as well as some intermediate level teams.

Teams

Pool 1	Pool 2	Pool 3	Pool 4
Cobh Ramblers Cork City * Limerick * Waterford Wexford UCC	Cockhill Celtic Derry City * Finn Harps Galway United Mayo League Sligo Rovers *	Bray Wanderers Drogheda United Dundalk * Shelbourne St Patrick's Athletic * St Mochta's	Athlone Bohemians Cabinteely Longford Town * Shamrock Rovers * UCD

Clubs denoted with * received a bye into Second Round

First Round

All teams were divided into four pools based on geographical location. Two random teams per pool received a bye into the second round. The draw for the First Round took place on 9 February 2018. Ties were scheduled to begin on 5 March 2018 but were subsequently postponed due to the aftermath of extreme weather from a cold wave known as the Beast from the East combined with Storm Emma. Rescheduled ties were set for various dates across March and April 2018.

12 March 2018	Finn Harps	4-3	Mayo League	Finn Park
19:45	7' Devers 41' O'Connor 51' Toland 56' O'Flynn		59' 82' Lavelle 71 ' Morrissey

13 March 2018	Wexford	0-0 (7–8 pen)	Cobh Ramblers*	Ferrycarraig Park
20:00
	Penalties
	{{{penalties1}}}		{{{penalties2}}}

19 March 2018	Galway United	1-0	Cockhill Celtic	Eamonn Deacy Park
19:45	51' Gill (OG)

26 March 2018	Waterford	4-1	UCC	Regional Sports Centre
19:45	11' Martin 32' Puri 40' Daly 66' Akinade		55' Hennessy

26 March 2018	Bray Wanderers	0-3	Shelbourne	Carlisle Grounds
19:45			24' 61' English 29' Boyne

26 March 2018	Bohemians	5-1	Cabinteely	Dalymount Park
19:45	37' 76' Watts 38' 42' Manley 65' Grant		8' Fitzpatrick

27 March 2018	Athlone Town	0-2	UCD	Athlone Town Stadium
19:45			34' Molloy 84' Mahdy

9 April 2018	Drogheda United	3-2	St Mochta's	United Park
19:45	28' Doyle 31' McPhillips 40' Meaney		20' Kelly (Pen) 89' Hughes

Second Round

The draw for the Second Round took place on 22 March 2018 and was made on a regional pool basis. Ties were scheduled for Easter Monday 2 April 2018. Four second round fixtures were postponed due to heavy rainfall causing unplayable pitches. Rearranged fixtures were set for 9 April,23 April and 24 April.

2 April 2018	Bohemians*	2-2 (5–3 pen)	UCD	Dalymount Park
15:00	54' Stokes 83' Lunney (Pen)		21' Mahdy 35' O'Neill
	Penalties
	{{{penalties1}}}		{{{penalties2}}}

2 April 2018	Finn Harps	1-2	Derry City	Finn Park
17:00	11' Coll		29' McEneff (Pen) 63' Patterson

2 April 2018	Galway United	0-1	Sligo Rovers	Eamonn Deacy Park
17:00			82' McCabe

9 April 2018	Limerick	0-1	Cobh Ramblers	Market's Field
19:45			90' O'Riordan

9 April 2018	St Patrick's Athletic	4-4 (7–8 pen)	Dundalk*	Richmond Park
19:45	Fagan  58' Kelly  60' Leahy  97' Leahy  104'		Tagbajumi  3' Murray  45' Leahy  102' (og.) Massey  120'	Referee: Adriano Reale
	Penalties
	Fagan Clarke Doona Kelly Lennon Toner Leahy Madden Markey		Massey McGrath Poynton Adorján Gartland Mountney O'Donnell Folan Tagbajumi

23 April 2018	Waterford*	1-1 (5-3 pen)	Cork City	Regional Sports Centre
19:45	100' Duffus		112' O'Hanlon
	Penalties
	{{{penalties1}}}		{{{penalties2}}}

24 April 2018	Shelbourne	7-2	Drogheda United	Tolka Park
	20' Mulcahy 22' Rooney 25' Kavanagh 27' 48' 90' Doyle 60' Farrell		69' Trimble 70' Hondermack

24 April 2018	Shamrock Rovers	0-1	Longford Town	Tallaght Stadium
19:45			89' O'Reilly

Quarter Finals

The draw for the quarter finals took place on 10 April 2018 and was an open draw, unlike previous rounds which were drawn on a geographic pooled basis. Ties are due to be played on 7/8 May 2018.

7 May 2018	Derry City	7-3	Shelbourne	Brandywell Stadium
17:00	5' 15' 40' Curtis 36' Hale 43' McEneff (Pen) 83' Low 90' Boyle		21' 28' O'Sullivan 81' English

8 May 2018	Cobh Ramblers	2-0	Longford Town	St. Colman's Park
19:30	43' Murphy 88' Wall

8 May 2018	Dundalk	3-0	Bohemians	Oriel Park
19:45	7' 21' Connolly 89' McGrath

8 May 2018	Sligo Rovers	1-0	Waterford	The Showgrounds
19:45	63' Cawley

Semi Finals

The draw for the semi finals of the 2018 EA Sports Cup was made on 13 May 2018. Both ties are due to be played on 6 August 2018.

6 August 2018	Sligo Rovers	v	Derry City	The Showgrounds

6 August 2018	Cobh Ramblers	v	Dundalk	St. Colman's Park

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