2007–08 Irish League Cup

2007–08 Irish League Cup

CIS Insurance Cup
Country	Northern Ireland
Teams	16
Champions	Linfield (9th win)
Runners-up	Crusaders
Matches played	55
Goals scored	182 (3.31 per match)
← 2006–07 2008–09 →

The 2007–08 Irish League Cup (known as the CIS Insurance Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 22nd edition of Northern Ireland's secondary football knock-out cup competition. It concluded on 2 February 2008 with the final.

Glentoran were the defending champions after their sixth League Cup win last season; a 1–0 victory over Cliftonville in the previous final. This season Glentoran went out at the semi-final stage to Crusaders, who were then defeated 3–2 by Linfield in the final. This was Linfield's ninth League Cup win, and last one to date. This was also the tenth time in eleven years that the cup had been won by one of Belfast's Big Two.^[1][2]

The 16 clubs taking part were divided into four groups of four clubs. The clubs in each group played each other at home and away. The top two clubs from each group then advanced to the quarter-finals where they played a single knock-out tie against another quarter-finalist. The semi-finals were played in the same format with the two winners of the ties advancing to the single match final.

Group Stage

Group A

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Linfield 6 5 1 0 13 2 +11 16 Dungannon Swifts 6 3 1 2 7 6 +1 10 Glenavon 6 1 1 4 8 13 –5 4 Ballymena United 6 1 1 4 7 14 –7 4

Home ╲ Away BYM DUN GLA LIN Ballymena United 0–1 3–3 0–3 Dungannon Swifts 1–0 2–1 0–1 Glenavon 1–3 3–2 0–1 Linfield 5–1 1–1 2–0 Source: rsssf.com 1 ^^ The home team is listed in the left-hand column. Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Group B

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Glentoran 6 6 0 0 19 6 +13 18 Lisburn Distillery 6 3 1 2 9 8 +1 10 Larne 6 1 1 4 11 13 –2 4 Armagh City 6 1 0 5 5 17 –12 3

Home ╲ Away ARM GLT LRN LIS Armagh City 0–2 3–2 1–3 Glentoran 6–0 3–2 3–1 Larne 3–1 2–3 1–1 Lisburn Distillery 1–0 1–2 2–1 Source: rsssf.com 1 ^^ The home team is listed in the left-hand column. Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Group C

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Cliftonville 6 4 2 0 12 5 +7 14 Crusaders 6 3 1 2 11 12 –1 10 Donegal Celtic 6 1 2 3 9 11 –2 5 Limavady United 6 1 1 4 10 14 –4 4

Home ╲ Away CLI CRU DGC LIM Cliftonville 1–0 2–2 2–0 Crusaders 1–4 0–0 1–0 Donegal Celtic 0–1 3–4 3–2 Limavady United 2–2 4–5 2–1 Source: rsssf.com 1 ^^ The home team is listed in the left-hand column. Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Group D

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Portadown 6 5 1 0 12 6 +6 16 Newry City 6 4 1 1 8 5 +3 13 Coleraine 6 0 2 4 7 11 –4 2 Institute 6 0 2 4 6 11 –5 2

Home ╲ Away COL INS NEW POR Coleraine 1–1 1–2 2–3 Institute 2–2 1–3 1–2 Newry City 1–0 1–0 1–3 Portadown 2–1 2–1 0–0 Source: rsssf.com 1 ^^ The home team is listed in the left-hand column. Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Quarter-finals

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Cliftonville	3–3 (5–6 p)	Newry City
Glentoran	1–0	Dungannon Swifts
Linfield	5–1	Lisburn Distillery
Portadown	3–4	Crusaders

Semi-finals

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Crusaders	1–0	Glentoran
Linfield	1–1 (4–3 p)	Newry City

Final

Crusaders v Linfield

2 February 2008

Crusaders	2 – 3	Linfield
Rainey  54' Brown  77'	Report	Thompson  46' Ferguson  86', 89'

Windsor Park, Belfast

References

1. "Northern Ireland - List of League Cup Finals". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. rsssf.com. Retrieved 9 January 2013.
2. "Northern Ireland League Cup 2007/08". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. rsssf.com. Retrieved 9 January 2013.