2018 Scottish Challenge Cup Final

The 2018 Scottish Challenge Cup Final, also known as the IRN-BRU Cup Final for sponsorship reasons, was a football match that took place on 24 March 2018 at McDiarmid Park, between Dumbarton and Inverness Caledonian Thistle.[1] It was the 27th 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 fifth since the SPFL was formed. The match was won by Inverness CT 1–0 with a stoppage time winner, marking their second win in the tournament since its inception and their first silverware since the 2014–15 Scottish Cup.

2018 Scottish Challenge Cup Final
Event2017–18 Scottish Challenge Cup
Dumbarton Inverness Caledonian
Thistle
0 1
Date24 March 2018
VenueMcDiarmid Park, Perth
RefereeAndrew Dallas
Attendance4,602

Route to the final
See also: 2017–18 Scottish Challenge Cup

The competition is a knock-out tournament and was contested by 56 teams from Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in 2017–18.[2] Two teams from the Republic of Ireland were added to the competition in 2017–18,[2] following the addition of teams from Wales and Northern Ireland in 2016–17.[3]

Those participating were the 30 clubs that played in the 2017–18 Championship, League One and League Two of the Scottish Professional Football League along with the top four teams from the 2016–17 Highland and Lowland Leagues. The top two teams from the 2016–17 Welsh Premier League and 2016–17 NIFL Premiership and the U20s squads of the teams competing in the 2016–17 Premiership were also invited to compete.[2] Bray Wanderers and Sligo Rovers, as the League of Ireland's highest-ranked non-European participants in 2016, were also invited.[2]

Dumbarton
Round Opposition Score
First round Rangers Under-20s (h) 2–1
Second round Connah's Quay Nomads (h) 2–1 (a.e.t.)
Third round Stranraer (h) 2–1
Quarter-final Raith Rovers (h) 2–0
Semi-final The New Saints (a) 2–1

Inverness Caledonian Thistle

Inverness received a bye to the second round, as the team that had finished 12th in the 2016–17 Scottish Premiership.

Round Opposition Score
Second round Aberdeen Under-20s (a) 4–2
Third round Peterhead (h) 3–0
Quarter-final Falkirk (h) 1–0
Semi-final Crusaders (h) 3–2

Match details
Final
Dumbarton0–1Inverness Caledonian Thistle
Report Tremarco  90+3'
Attendance: 4,602
Referee: Andrew Dallas
Dumbarton
Inverness CT
Dumbarton:
GK1 Scott Gallacher
RB2 David Smith
CB4 Andy Dowie (c)
CB55 Craig Barr
LB3 Christopher McLaughlin
CM6 Stuart Carswell
CM14 Kyle Hutton
AM21 Danny Handling
FW10 Tom Walsh  81'
FW7 Calum Gallagher  74'
FW23 Iain Russell  68'
Substitutes:
GK19 Jamie Ewings
MF5 Grant Gallagher
MF8 David Wilson
FW9 Mark Stewart  74'
DF15 Dougie Hill
MF20 Dimitris Froxylias  68'
MF31 Liam Burt  81'
Manager:
Stephen Aitken
Inverness Caledonian Thistle:
GK28 Mark Ridgers
RB17 Collin Seedorf
CB5 Gary Warren (c)
CB23 Coll Donaldson
LB3 Carl Tremarco
RM7 Liam Polworth
CM11 Iain Vigurs
LM4 Joe Chalmers
FW14 George Oakley
FW20 Connor Bell  78'
FW15 Jake Mulraney  70'
Substitutes:
GK1 Ryan Esson
MF10 Aaron Doran  70'
MF16 Riccardo Calder
MF18 Zak Elbouzedi
MF24 Charlie Trafford
MF27 Daniel MacKay  78'
FW32 Jack Brown
Manager:
John Robertson

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
  1. "McDiarmid Park to host IRN-BRU final". www.spfl.co.uk. Scottish Professional Football League. 20 February 2018. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  2. "IRN-BRU Cup expanded for 2017/18". www.spfl.co.uk. Scottish Professional Football League. 7 June 2017. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  3. "Northern Irish and Welsh sides to join top flight U20s in Challenge Cup". www.stv.tv/sport. STV. 8 June 2016. Retrieved 22 February 2017.


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