Setanta Cup Draw - 2005

thanks to Colm from the Cork City Official Supporters Club for the text from the draw venue.

Group 1
Shels
Cork City
Portadown

Group 2
Longford
Linfield
Glentoran

City's first game v Shels at Turners Cross March 29th


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DATE & FIXTURE SCHEDULE
GROUP 1
NO. DAY DATE FIXTURE HOME CLUB v AWAY CLUB
1 TUE. 15/3 IFA 1 v FAI 2 Glentoran v Longford Town
4 MON. 4/4 FAI 2 v IFA 3 Longford Town v Linfield
6 TUE. 19/4 IFA 3 v IFA 1 Linfield v Glentoran
7 MON. 25/4 FAI 2 v IFA 1 Longford Town v Glentoran
10 TUE. 10/5 IFA 3 v FAI 2 Linfield v Longford Town
11 MON. 16/5 IFA 1 v IFA 3 Glentoran v Linfield


GROUP 2
NO. DAY DATE FIXTURE HOME CLUB v AWAY CLUB
2 TUE. 22/3 FAI 1 v IFA 2 Shelbourne v Portadown
3 TUE. 29/3 FAI 3 v FAI 1 Cork City v Shelbourne
5 MON. 11/4 IFA 2 v FAI 3 Portadown v Cork City
8 MON. 25/4 IFA 2 v FAI 1 Portadown v Shelbourne
9 MON. 2/5 FAI 1 v FAI 3 Shelbourne v Cork City
12 MON. 16/5 FAI 3 v IFA 2 Cork City v Portadown

No Glens, no Linfield, Shels, Ports! dammit! City obviously got the boring side of the draw. :eek:

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Originally Posted by James

City's first game v Shels at Turners Cross March 29th

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Do you have the rest of the fixtures?

Means at least 5 games against shel$ next season :(

Will have to get out Atlas to find out where Portadown is ;)

I remember seeing schedule somewhere before & i thinlk first game was from group 1 which would mean will be Portadown v City/Shel$ or City/Shel$ v Portadown?

Chance for an early dose of revenge. It will be good to see Portadown.

tough group, but still interesting

its about time we beat shels anyway

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Schumi

Do you have the rest of the fixtures?

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the full fixtures wudnt fix on a txt msg ya langer schumi :P

Quote:

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Originally Posted by James

the full fixtures wudnt fix on a txt msg ya langer schumi :P

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Cork Translation Service: No, Schumi

Quote:

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Originally Posted by James

the full fixtures wudnt fix on a txt msg ya langer schumi :P

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They'd fit in two texts though. :)

Do teams play each other once or twice in the group stage?

teams play each other twice, once home, once away and then the top two from each group play in the final

I had to get online to get the draw.Nothing on TV3 sports news or teletext. This is one of the most interesting developments in Irish football in ages and you'd think the draw would be announced with great fanfare. Seems to me like another missed opportunity to promote the league by the FAI.

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Originally Posted by pete

Will have to get out Atlas to find out where Portadown is ;)

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Turn left after hell - you can't miss it..... :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by James

...then the top two from each group play in the final

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What you mean is that the top team in each group meets in Final. (i.e. no semis)

;)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by James

thanks to Colm from the Cork City Official Supporters Club for the text from the draw venue.

Group 1
Shels
Cork City
Portadown

Group 2
Longford
Linfield
Glentoran

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Was this an open draw ? Maybe it's the cynic in me that finds it coincidental that the strongest from the EL and the weakest from the IL have been placed together, and vice-versa. Makes a mixed final much more likely than, for example, if Cork had been split from Shels...

Could be tough for Longford to get through...

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dcfcsteve

Was this an open draw ? Maybe it's the cynic in me that finds it coincidental that the strongest from the EL and the weakest from the IL have been placed together, and vice-versa. Makes a mixed final much more likely than, for example, if Cork had been split from Shels...

Could be tough for Longford to get through...

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I have to admit that before the draw was made I'm pretty sure I said something like this could probably happen. Though in fairness it's a small draw so it's not that strange but it'd make sense from Setantas point of view to want a mixed final and these groups, on paper, give the most chance of that happening.

Still though, the usual 6 points against Cork and if we do well against Portadown that'll be Shels in the final :)

Just watched the sports news on RTEs six one to hear of the news and reaction to footballs ALL-Ireland Cup. No mention of it what so ever. :mad:

Barry Ferguson and Alan Matthews were at the draw and they are simply delighted. For one, as the City supporter already commented, League of Ireland teams meet too often and we will get good gates for the home matches.

Don't worry LTFC will be there and don't be surprised on an all eL final simply because we will have a stronger hand going into this competition.

I'm so excited over this. Best thing to happen in a long time and I always felt that the ultimate reward for winning the cup was that we'd be competing in this competition.

Finally, does anyone believe that the petition Éanna organised might have at least a little to do with this?

Here's the full list of fixtures.....

Tune into INN (news feed for all local radio stations) for interviews from Barry Ferguson, Alan Matthews and Owen Heary.

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DATE & FIXTURE SCHEDULE

GROUP 1

NO. DAY DATE FIXTURE HOME CLUB v AWAY CLUB
1 TUE. 15/3 IFA 1 v FAI 2 Glentoran v Longford Town
4 MON. 4/4 FAI 2 v IFA 3 Longford Town v Linfield
6 TUE. 19/4 IFA 3 v IFA 1 Linfield v Glentoran
7 MON. 25/4 FAI 2 v IFA 1 Longford Town v Glentoran
10 TUE. 10/5 IFA 3 v FAI 2 Linfield v Longford Town
11 MON. 16/5 IFA 1 v IFA 3 Glentoran v Linfield

GROUP 2

NO. DAY DATE FIXTURE HOME CLUB v AWAY CLUB
2 TUE. 22/3 FAI 1 v IFA 2 Shelbourne v Portadown
3 TUE. 29/3 FAI 3 v FAI 1 Cork City v Shelbourne
5 MON. 11/4 IFA 2 v FAI 3 Portadown v Cork City
8 MON. 25/4 IFA 2 v FAI 1 Portadown v Shelbourne
9 MON. 2/5 FAI 1 v FAI 3 Shelbourne v Cork City
12 MON. 16/5 FAI 3 v IFA 2 Cork City v Portadown


FINAL - SATURDAY, 21st MAY

[QUOTE=Xlex]Don't worry LTFC will be there and don't be surprised on an all eL final simply because we will have a stronger hand going into this competition. [QUOTE]

Why will EL teams have a stronger hand ? I know we all think our teams are better than theirs, but don't forget that we'll have just come back from 5 months of inactivity when the competition begins, whereas the IL clubs will be at their peak in terms of fitness/competitiveness.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by dcfcsteve

Was this an open draw ? Maybe it's the cynic in me that finds it coincidental that the strongest from the EL and the weakest from the IL have been placed together, and vice-versa. Makes a mixed final much more likely than, for example, if Cork had been split from Shels...

Could be tough for Longford to get through...

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Agree totally. If they are trying to ensure an IL v EL final they couldn't have picked them better.

On the downside, the Blues and Glens and likewise Shels and Cork probably see enough of each other already and their suuporters will no doubt be slightly disappointed.

I'm going for anyone but Linfield, Shels and Portadown, in that order :D

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Originally Posted by OneRedArmy

On the downside, the Blues and Glens and likewise Shels and Cork probably see enough of each other already and their suuporters will no doubt be slightly disappointed.

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Playing $hels 5 times a season, at least, is a little too much, but it had to happen with either them or Longford. I'm disappointed that we didn't get Glentoran.
Don't understand why people think Ports are the weakest IL team. Aren't they well on top of the league at the moment?

One thing for sure, president Mary McAleese won't be guest of honour at the opening game in Belfast.