2012–13 Irish League Cup

The 2012–13 Irish League Cup (known as the Irn-Bru League Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 27th edition of Northern Ireland's secondary football knock-out cup competition. It was contested by the twelve members of the IFA Premiership, as well as the 29 members of the IFA Championship. The competition began on 14 August 2012, and ended with the final on 26 January 2013.

2012–13 Irish League Cup
Irn-Bru League Cup
Country Northern Ireland
Teams41
ChampionsCliftonville (2nd win)
Runners-upCrusaders
Matches played40
Goals scored165 (4.13 per match)

Crusaders were the defending champions after defeating Coleraine 1–0 in the 2011–12 final.[1] They reached the final again this season, but were unable to defend the trophy as they were defeated 4–0 by Cliftonville in the final, who lifted the cup for the second time. This made it six different winners of the cup in the last six seasons.[2] The 4–0 scoreline equalled the record for the highest in a final, set when Linfield defeated Coleraine by the same score in 2000.

Format

The competition was played in a straight knock-out format and was open to all members of the IFA Premiership and both divisions of the IFA Championship. Twenty clubs from the IFA Championship entered in the first round, with the remaining ten Championship clubs given byes into the second round. They were joined by the twelve members of the IFA Premiership. Newry City were expelled from the IFA this season and their result in the second round match against Dergview was expunged from the records.[3] Replays were not used in the competition - all matches used extra time and penalties to determine the winner if necessary.

Round Draw date First match date Fixtures Clubs
First round 24 July 2012 14 August 2012 10 41 → 31
Second round 24 July 2012 27 August 2012 15 31 → 16
Third round 29 August 2012 9 October 2012 8 16 → 8
Quarter-finals 10 October 2012 5 November 2012 4 8 → 4
Semi-finals 7 November 2012 11 December 2012 2 4 → 2
Final N/A 26 January 2013 1 2 → 1

First round

The draw for the first round was made on 24 July 2012. The games were played on 14 August 2012. The first round draw was made randomly and included all 29 clubs from the IFA Championship. 20 of those clubs were drawn to face each other with the remaining 9 receiving a bye into the next round.

Armagh City, Ballymoney United, Bangor, Carrick Rangers, Coagh United, Dundela, Institute, Killymoon Rangers, and Limavady United all received byes into the second round.[4]

Team 1  Score  Team 2
Ards 4–0 Annagh United
Banbridge Town 2–1 Queen's University
Dergview 7–1 Ballyclare Comrades
Glebe Rangers 1–0 Larne
Knockbreda 1–0 Warrenpoint Town
Loughgall 0–4 Lurgan Celtic
Moyola Park 0–1 Tobermore United
Portstewart 1–3 Harland & Wolff Welders
PSNI 4–3 Chimney Corner
Sport & Leisure Swifts 3–3 (a.e.t.)
(5–4 p)		 Wakehurst

Second round

The draw for the second round was also made on 24 July 2012. The games were played on 27 August 2012.[4] The draw was later revised, switching some venues to the club originally drawn to play away from home.[5]

The 12 members of the IFA Premiership entered the draw at this stage, along with the 10 winners from the first round matches, and the 9 clubs that received byes. Dergview were effectively given a bye to the third round, after their 2–1 second round victory over Newry City was later expunged from the official records.[3] The draw was seeded so that the IFA Premiership clubs and the top 4 clubs from last season's second tier (IFA Championship 1) avoided each other.[4]

Team 1  Score  Team 2
Ballinamallard United 4–1 Knockbreda
Ballymena United 4–1 Lurgan Celtic
Ballymoney United 1–4 Coleraine
Bangor 4–2 Armagh City
Cliftonville 4–1 Tobermore United
Crusaders 3–0 Glebe Rangers
Donegal Celtic 1–2 Harland & Wolff Welders
Dungannon Swifts 2–2 (a.e.t.)
(6–7 p)		 Coagh United
Glenavon 6–1 Sport & Leisure Swifts
Glentoran 3–1 PSNI
Institute 1–0 Banbridge Town
Killymoon Rangers 0–5 Carrick Rangers
Limavady United 1–3 Lisburn Distillery
Linfield 3–1 Ards
Portadown 3–0 Dundela

Third round

The draw for the third round was made on 29 August 2012. Six clubs from IFA Championship 1 made it through to the third round along with the ten remaining clubs from the top flight, but none made it through from Championship 2. The matches were played on 9 October 2012.[6]

Team 1  Score  Team 2
Ballymena United 3–1 Harland & Wolff Welders
Bangor 0–4 Portadown
Carrick Rangers 3–4 Crusaders
Cliftonville 5–0 Ballinamallard United
Coleraine 0–1 (a.e.t.) Linfield
Glenavon 2–1 Dergview
Institute 2–2 (a.e.t.)
(2–4 p)		 Glentoran
Lisburn Distillery 9–0 Coagh United

Quarter-finals

The quarter-finals draw was made on 10 October 2012. No club from outside the IFA Premiership reached this stage. The matches were played on 5 November 2012.[7]

Ballymena United0 – 6Linfield
Report Thompson  20'
Black  30'
Carvill  35'
McCaul  37', 44'
Browne  83'
Cliftonville3 – 1Portadown
Gormley  70'
Boyce  75'
O'Carroll  82'		 Report Ramsey  2'
Crusaders3 – 1Lisburn Distillery
Heatley  12'
Adamson  63'
Caddell  65'		 Report Hughes  87'
Glenavon2 – 1Glentoran
McGrory  11', 47' Report Callacher  82'

Semi-finals

The semi-finals draw was made on 7 November 2012. The matches were played on 11 December 2012.[8]

Cliftonville3 – 0Glenavon
Garrett  45+1'
McMullan  65' (pen.)
Boyce  81'		 Report
Linfield0 – 1Crusaders
Report Owens  64'

Final

The final was played on 26 January 2013 at Windsor Park.

Cliftonville4 – 0Crusaders
O'Carroll  23'
Gormley  25', 72'
Catney  74'		 Report
Attendance: 4,948

References
  1. Coleraine 0–1 Crusaders
  2. "Cliftonville beat Crusaders 4-0 in League Cup final". BBC Sport. 26 January 2013. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  3. "IRISH FA STATEMENT". Irish Football Association. 28 September 2012. Retrieved 3 October 2012.
  4. IRN-BRU LEAGUE CUP LAUNCHES WITH ROUNDS 1 & 2 DRAWS
  5. IRN-BRU LEAGUE CUP - REVISED SECOND ROUND DRAW
  6. IRN-BRU LEAGUE CUP REACHES LAST 16 STAGE
  7. Ballymena United drawn against Linfield in League Cup
  8. Glenavon boss Hamilton unhappy over Solitude cup semi-final
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