2014–15 Northern Ireland Football League Cup

Northern Ireland Football League Cup WASP Solutions League Cup 2014–15 Northern Ireland 41 Cliftonville (4th win) Ballymena United 40 163 2013–14 2015–16 The 2014–15 Northern Ireland Football League Cup (known as the WASP Solutions League Cup for sponsorship purposes)http://nifootballleague.com/league-cup/news/item/ni-football-league-cup-sponsorship-announcement NI FOOTBALL LEAGUE CUP SPONSORSHIP ANNOUNCEMENT 20 January 2014 nifootballleague.com 21 January 2014 was the 29th edition of the Northern Ireland Football League Cup, Northern Ireland's secondary football knockout cup competition, and the second season of the competition under the control of the Northern Ireland Football League. It was contested by the 12 members of the NIFL Premiership and the 29 members of the NIFL Championship. The competition began on 12 August 2014 with the first round, and concluded on 24 January 2015 with the final. Cliftonville were the defending champions, after they retained the trophy by defeating Crusaders 3–2 on penalties following a 0–0 draw after extra time in the 2014 final to win the cup for the second consecutive season.https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/25884029 League Cup final: Cliftonville beat Crusaders in shoot-out 25 January 2014 BBC Sport 25 January 2014 This season, Cliftonville successfully retained the Cup once again, defeating Ballymena United 3–2 in the final to win the Cup for the third consecutive season and the fourth time overall.https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/30949032 League Cup final: Ballymena Utd 2-3 Cliftonville 24 January 2015 BBC Sport 25 January 2015 They became only the second club to win the competition in three consecutive seasons, emulating Linfield's feat of three consecutive wins in 1997–98, 1998–99 and 1999–2000. Format The competition was played in a straight knockout format and was open to all members of the NIFL Premiership and both divisions of the NIFL Championship. The top 16 ranked clubs from last season received byes into the second round, which included the 12 members of the 2013–14 NIFL Premiership and the top four ranked clubs from the 2013–14 NIFL Championship. Of the remaining 25 Championship clubs, 18 of them entered the competition in the first round, with the other seven given byes into the second round. Replays were not used in the competition, with all matches using extra time and penalties to determine the winner if necessary. RoundDraw dateFirst match dateFixturesClubs First round 24 July 2014 12 August 2014 9 41 → 32 Second round 13 August 2014 25 August 2014 16 32 → 16 Third round 30 August 2014 7 October 2014 8 16 → 8 Quarter-finals 11 October 2014 11 November 2014 4 8 → 4 Semi-finals 15 November 2014 16 December 2014 2 4 → 2 Final N/A 24 January 2015 1 2 → 1 Changes from 2013–14 Killymoon Rangers were relegated from the NIFL Championship at the end of the previous season, and were replaced in the competition by Dollingstown, who made their League Cup debut this season following their promotion to the Championship for the first time. The number of competing clubs in the League Cup fell by one to 41 this season following Chimney Corner's resignation from the Championship. In July 2014, the club announced that they would be resigning to join the Ballymena & Provincial League for the 2014–15 season.http://www.antrimtimes.co.uk/sport/football/corner-step-down-from-championship-football-1-6165005 Corner step down from Championship football 8 July 2014 Antrim Times 24 July 2014 https://web.archive.org/web/20140715035720/http://www.antrimtimes.co.uk/sport/football/corner-step-down-from-championship-football-1-6165005 15 July 2014 dead As a result, the first round of the competition was adjusted to contain nine matches and seven byes, instead of the usual ten matches and six byes to make up the requisite number of 32 clubs in the second round. First round The draw for the first round was made randomly and included 25 of the 29 NIFL Championship clubs, with the top four ranked clubs from the 2013–14 NIFL Championship not entering until the second round. 7 of the 25 Championship clubs received a bye into the second round, leaving the remaining 18 Championship clubs in the first round to play a total of nine ties. The draw took place on 24 July 2014, with the matches being played on 12 August 2014. The seven clubs to receive byes were: Ballymoney United, Dollingstown, Donegal Celtic, Harland & Wolff Welders, Larne, Lisburn Distillery and Wakehurst.http://www.nifootballleague.com/league-cup/news/item/wasp-solutions-league-cup-first-round-draw WASP SOLUTIONS LEAGUE CUP - FIRST ROUND DRAW 24 July 2014 NI Football League 24 July 2014 |- |colspan="3" style="background:#E8FFD8;"|12 August 2014 Annagh United (3) 4–2Report Dergview (2) Ballyclare Comrades (2) 1–0Report Limavady United (3) Banbridge Town (3) 1–2 Newington YC (3) Coagh United (3) 1–3 Carrick Rangers (2) Glebe Rangers (3) 4–1Report Lurgan Celtic (3) Loughgall (2) 8–2 Tobermore United (3) Moyola Park (3) 1–1 (aet)(5–4 p) Sport & Leisure Swifts (3) Portstewart (3) 5–0 Queen's University (3) PSNI (2) 2–1 Armagh City (2) |} Second round The second round draw was completed on 13 August 2014, with the matches played on 25 August 2014. The draw was made up of the remaining 32 clubs, with a seeding system in place for this round. The 12 members of the 2013–14 NIFL Premiership entered this round as seeds, along with the top four ranked clubs from the 2013–14 NIFL Championship. The nine winners from the first round matches, and the seven clubs to receive byes into the second round were unseeded.http://www.nifootballleague.com/league-cup/news/item/wasp-solutions-league-cup-second-round-draw WASP SOLUTIONS LEAGUE CUP - SECOND ROUND DRAW 13 August 2014 NI Football League 14 August 2014 |- |colspan="3" style="background:#E8FFD8;"|25 August 2014 Annagh United (3) 2–5 Portadown (1) Ballyclare Comrades (2) 1–0 Linfield (1) Ballymena United (1) 3–0 Newington YC (3) Ballymoney United (3) 0–5 Ballinamallard United (1) Bangor (2) 2–0 Portstewart (3) Cliftonville (1) 6–0 Wakehurst (3) Coleraine (1) 3–0 Larne (2) Crusaders (1) 6–1 Glebe Rangers (3) Dundela (2) 0–3 Carrick Rangers (2) Glenavon (1) 3–1 Lisburn Distillery (2) Institute (1) 2–0 Dollingstown (3) Knockbreda (2) 4–0Report Donegal Celtic (2) Loughgall (2) 0–1 Dungannon Swifts (1) Moyola Park (3) 1–2 Glentoran (1) PSNI (2) 1–4 Ards (2) Warrenpoint Town (1) 1–2 Harland & Wolff Welders (2) |} SeededUnseededArds Ballinamallard United Ballymena United Bangor Cliftonville Coleraine Crusaders Dundela Dungannon Swifts Glenavon Glentoran Institute Knockbreda Linfield Portadown Warrenpoint TownAnnagh United Ballyclare Comrades Ballymoney United Carrick Rangers Dollingstown Donegal Celtic Glebe Rangers Harland & Wolff Welders Larne Lisburn Distillery Loughgall Moyola Park Newington YC Portstewart PSNI Wakehurst Third round The 16 winners from the second round matches entered this round. The third round draw was completed on 30 August 2014, with the matches played on 7 October 2014.http://www.nifootballleague.com/league-cup/news/item/wasp-solutions-league-cup-3rd-round-draw WASP SOLUTIONS LEAGUE CUP - THIRD ROUND DRAW 30 August 2014 NI Football League 1 September 2014 Six clubs from the second tier reached this stage, but there were no representatives from the third tier. A number of ties were switched after the original draw. eeeeee 7 October 2014 19:45 GMT Ballymena United (1) 3 – 1 Report Ballyclare Comrades (2) Tipton 34 pen. 54 79 pen. Reid 21 Ballymena Showgrounds, Ballymena Tim Marshall 7 October 2014 19:45 GMT Bangor (2) 4 – 1 Report Harland & Wolff Welders (2) Forsythe 27 70 90Youle 46 Middleton 2 Clandeboye Park, Bangor Raymond Crangle eeeeee 7 October 2014 19:45 GMT Cliftonville (1) 4 – 1 Report Carrick Rangers (2) Mulvenna 21 60Knowles 90+2M.Donnelly 90+3 Cherry 54 Solitude, Belfast Ian McNabb 7 October 2014 19:45 GMT Crusaders (1) 3 – 2 Report Coleraine (1) Clarke 70O'Carroll 78 90 Miskimmin 30McCafferty 80 Seaview, Belfast Mervyn Smyth eeeeee 7 October 2014 19:45 GMT Dungannon Swifts (1) 3 – 0 Report Ards (2) Wilson 32Douglas 34Liggett 74 Stangmore Park, Dungannon Andrew Davey 7 October 2014 19:45 GMT Glenavon (1) 1 – 5 Report Glentoran (1) Dillon 22 Allen 8McCaffrey 42 pen. 57 86Stewart 81 Mourneview Park, Lurgan Colin Burns eeeeee 7 October 2014 19:45 GMT Institute (1) 0 – 2 Report Ballinamallard United (1) Elding 7 pen.Campbell 47 Riverside Stadium, Drumahoe Raymond Hetherington 7 October 2014 19:45 GMT Portadown (1) 3 – 1 Report Knockbreda (2) Murray 25 pen.McAllister 55Gault 81 Boyd 87 Shamrock Park, Portadown Ross Dunlop Quarter-finals The 8 winners from the third round matches entered this round. The draw for the quarter-finals was made on 11 October 2014, with the matches played on 11 November 2014. Bangor was the lowest ranked club to reach the quarter-finals, as the only representative from outside the top flight. eeeeee 11 November 2014 19:45 GMT Ballinamallard United (1) 1 – 1 yes Report Glentoran (1) Lafferty 14 Allen 76 4 – 1 Ferney Park, Ballinamallard Ross Dunlop 11 November 2014 19:45 GMT Ballymena United (1) 3 – 1 Report Dungannon Swifts (1) Kane 21Gawley 33Boyce 83 Harpur 40 pen. Ballymena Showgrounds, Ballymena Raymond Crangle eeeeee 11 November 2014 19:45 GMT Bangor (2) 4 – 2 yes Report Crusaders (1) Youle 68Hall 80Boylan 99 115 Adamson 24 36 Clandeboye Park, Bangor Ian McNabb 11 November 2014 19:45 GMT Cliftonville (1) 2 – 0 Report Portadown (1) Gormley 28 32 Solitude, Belfast Colin Burns Semi-finals The semi-final draw took place on 15 November 2014, with the 4 quarter-final winners entering this round. Once again, Bangor was the lowest ranked club to reach this stage, as the only representative from outside the top flight. In reaching the semi-finals, Bangor became the first club from outside the top-flight to do so since Portadown in 2008–09. eeeeee 16 December 2014 19:45 GMT Cliftonville (1) 4 – 3 BBC SportNIFL Bangor (2) McDaid 33J.Donnelly 38Gormley 64 75 Walsh 40Cosgrove 60 o.g.McDowell 73 Solitude, Belfast Andrew Davey 16 December 2014 20:00 GMT Ballinamallard United (1) 2 – 3 BBC SportNIFL Ballymena United (1) Campbell 20 68 Jenkins 45Tipton 58Munster 87 Ferney Park, Ballinamallard Raymond Hetherington Final The final was played on 24 January 2015 at Windsor Park. Ballymena United reached the final for the first time, while Cliftonville were appearing in their third consecutive final and sixth final overall. Cliftonville completed a successful defence of the cup once again, lifting it for the third consecutive season and the fourth time overall. 24 January 2015 17:30 GMT Ballymena United (1) 2 – 3 BBC SportNIFL Cliftonville (1) Cushley 52 59 Gormley 1 37M. Donnelly 80 Windsor Park, Belfast Raymond Crangle See also 2014–15 NIFL Premiership 2014–15 NIFL Championship 2014–15 Irish Cup External links NIFL official site References Category:Irish League Cup seasons League Cup