2013 Setanta Sports Cup
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Country | Northern Ireland Republic of Ireland | 
| Teams | 12 | 
| Defending champions | Crusaders | 
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Shamrock Rovers (2nd title) | 
| Runners-up | Drogheda United | 
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 21 | 
| Goals scored | 66 (3.14 per match) | 
The 2013 Setanta Sports Cup was the eighth staging of the Setanta Sports Cup, an annual football competition featuring clubs from Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland. It commenced on 11 February 2013 and ended on 11 May 2013 with the final played at the Tallaght Stadium, Dublin.
Crusaders were the defending champions, after they defeated Derry City 5–4 on penalties in the 2012 final, when the match ended 2–2 after extra time. However, this season they went out 4–1 on aggregate in the quarter-finals to Cork City. Shamrock Rovers were the eventual winners for the second time overall, following a comfortable 7–1 win over Drogheda United in the final. This season's competition was notable for the fact that all four semi-finalists represented the Republic of Ireland. It was also the sixth time in the eight competitions played thus far that the winner had been a League of Ireland club.
Qualifiers
The following clubs qualified to take part in this year's competition. The eight unseeded clubs entered in the first round, while the four seeded clubs entered in the quarter-finals.
| Seeded teams 
 | Unseeded teams 
 
 | 
First round
The first round draw was made on 6 December 2012. Four League of Ireland and four IFA Premiership clubs played each other in the first round over two games with the winners qualifying for the quarter-finals. The first legs were played on 11 February 2013 and the second legs were played on 18 February 2013.[1]
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cork City   | 6–2 | .svg.png) Cliftonville | 4–0 | 2–2 | 
| Drogheda United   | 8–2 | .svg.png) Portadown | 3–2 | 5–0 | 
| Shamrock Rovers   | 2–1 | .svg.png) Coleraine | 0–1 | 2–0 | 
| St Patrick's Athletic   | 0–1 | .svg.png) Glentoran | 0–0 | 0–1 | 
First leg
| St Patrick's Athletic | 0 – 0 | Glentoran | 
|---|---|---|
| Flood  85' | Report | Birney  15' Magee  68' Kane  77' Hill  82' | 
| Cork City | 4 – 0 | Cliftonville | 
|---|---|---|
| G. Morrissey  16' Turner  26' (pen.), 45+1'} Kavanagh  69' | Report | 
Second leg
| Coleraine | 0 – 2 | Shamrock Rovers | 
|---|---|---|
| Report | Quigley  5'  73' McCabe  53' Sullivan  66' Kilduff  90' | 
Shamrock Rovers won 2−1 on aggregate.
| Glentoran | 1 – 0 | St Patrick's Athletic | 
|---|---|---|
| Murray  62' | Report | Fagan  42' | 
Glentoran won 1−0 on aggregate.
| Cliftonville | 2 – 2 | Cork City | 
|---|---|---|
| Boyce  38' Garrett  87' | Report | Horgan  15' Furlong  52' Morrissey  72' Spillane  90+2' | 
Cork City won 6−2 on aggregate.
| Portadown | 0 – 5 | Drogheda United | 
|---|---|---|
| Murray  10' McNeill  61' Ramsey  64' Burns  89' | Report | Byrne  1' O'Conor  12' Brennan  55' Cassidy  78' Hand  90+3' | 
Drogheda United won 8−2 on aggregate.
Quarter-finals
The winners of the four first-round games joined the four seeded teams in the quarter-finals. The first legs were played on 26 February and 4 March, while the second legs were played on 4 and 11 March 2013.
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cork City   | 4–1 | .svg.png) Crusaders | 1–0 | 3–1 | 
| Derry City   | 2–3 |  Drogheda United | 1–1 | 1–2 | 
| Shamrock Rovers   | 7–2 | .svg.png) Linfield | 4–1 | 3–1 | 
| Sligo Rovers   | 8–0 | .svg.png) Glentoran | 5–0 | 3–0 | 
First leg
| Derry City | 1 – 1 | Drogheda United | 
|---|---|---|
| Patterson  10'  43' | Report | Prendergast  4' O'Brien  53' Sava  66' | 
| Shamrock Rovers | 4 – 1 | Linfield | 
|---|---|---|
| Finn  34'  50' Powell  42' Kilduff  45', 73' Rice  82' | Report | Mulgrew  23' McCaul  31' Burns  62'  72' | 
Second leg
Cork City won 4−1 on aggregate.
| Glentoran | 0 – 3 | Sligo Rovers | 
|---|---|---|
| Clarke  59' | Report | Lynch  7' Cretaro  25' Henderson  62' Martin  85' | 
Sligo Rovers won 8−0 on aggregate.
| Drogheda United | 2 – 1 | Derry City | 
|---|---|---|
| Prendergast  68' R. Brennan  90+4' | Report | McEleney  37' McBride  48' Rafter  64' | 
Drogheda United won 3−2 on aggregate.
Shamrock Rovers won 7−2 on aggregate.
Semi-finals
The first legs of the semi-finals will be played on 16 April and the second legs on 22 April.
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drogheda United   | 2−1 |  Sligo Rovers | 2−0 | 0−1 | 
| Shamrock Rovers   | 3−3 |  Cork City | 1−1 | 2−2 | 
First leg
| Drogheda United | 2 − 0 | Sligo Rovers | 
|---|---|---|
| O'Neill  24' Cassidy  35' Grimes  52' | Report | 
Second leg
| Cork City | 2 − 2 | Shamrock Rovers | 
|---|---|---|
| Horgan  45+1' Kavanagh  63'  87' | Report | Foran  29' Rice  32'  72' Dennehy  54'  90+3' | 
3–3 on aggregate. Shamrock Rovers won on away goals
| Sligo Rovers | 1 − 0 | Drogheda United | 
|---|---|---|
| Cawley  30'  46' Ventre  71' | Report | O'Neill  24' Cassidy  39' | 
Drogheda United won 2−1 on aggregate.
Final
| Shamrock Rovers | 7 − 1 | Drogheda United | 
|---|---|---|
| Chambers  11' O'Connor  13' Sheppard  45' Finn  55', 56' Dennehy  75', 88' | Report | O'Neill  65' | 
References
- ^ "Cliftonville to face Cork City in Setanta Cup first round". BBC Sport. 6 December 2012. Retrieved 6 December 2012.