2019 Scottish Challenge Cup final

The 2019 Scottish Challenge Cup final, also known as the IRN-BRU Cup final for sponsorship reasons, was a football match that took place on 23 March 2019, between Ross County and Connah's Quay Nomads.^[3] It was the 28th 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 sixth since the SPFL was formed. Connah's Quay became the first club from outside Scotland to reach the final since the competition was first expanded to include guest teams from other countries in 2016–17.^[3]

2019 Scottish Challenge Cup final

Event	2018–19 Scottish Challenge Cup
Connah's Quay Nomads Ross County 1 3
Date	23 March 2019
Venue	Caledonian Stadium, Inverness[1]
Referee	Alan Muir[2]
← 2018 2020 →

Route to the final

See also: 2018–19 Scottish Challenge Cup

The competition is a knock-out tournament and was contested by 58 teams from Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in 2018–19.^[4] Two teams from the English National League (fifth tier) were added to the competition in 2018–19,^[5] following the addition of teams from Wales and Northern Ireland in 2016–17^[6] and the Republic of Ireland in 2017–18.

Ross County

Round	Opposition	Score
First round	Heart of Midlothian U21s (a)	2–1
Second round	Raith Rovers (h)	5–0
Third round	Montrose (h)	3–1
Quarter-final	Motherwell U21s (a)	2–1
Semi-final	East Fife (h)	2–1

Connah's Quay Nomads

As one of the guest teams from Wales, Connah's Quay Nomads received a bye to the second round.

Round	Opposition	Score
Second round	Falkirk (a)	1–0
Third round	Coleraine (h)	2–0
Quarter-final	Queen's Park (a)	2–1
Semi-final	Edinburgh City (h)	1–1 (a.e.t.) 5–4 (p)[3]

The choice of Inverness as the venue for the final^[1] caused some controversy, with the Highland city being only 15 miles (24 km) from Ross County's home in Dingwall but a distance of 400 miles (640 km) for Connah's Quay Nomads;^[7] previous finals had typically been held further south in Scotland's Central Belt.

Match details

Connah's Quay Nomads	1–3	Ross County
Bakare 22'	Report	Mullin 75', 78' Lindsay 86'

23 March 2019

16:30

Final

Caledonian Stadium, Inverness

Attendance: 3,057

Referee: Alan Muir

Connah's Quay Nomads

Ross County

GK 1 John Danby RB 15 Danny Holmes CB 18 Priestly Farquharson (c)  80' CB 5 George Horan LB 14 Adam Barton CM 8 Callum Morris  81' CM 6 Danny Harrison  81' LM 17 Michael Parker RM 22 Michael Bakare FW 9 Michael Wilde FW 10 Andy Owens Substitutes: GK 20 Lewis Brass DF 2 John Disney MF 7 Ryan Wignall  80' MF 12 Declan Poole  66' MF 16 James Owen MF 19 Jake Phillips  88' MF 21 Robert Hughes Manager: Andy Morrison

GK 21 Ross Munro RB 2 Marcus Fraser (c) CB 15 Keith Watson CB 12 Andy Boyle LB 28 Kenny van der Weg RM 10 Declan McManus  66' CM 8 Jamie Lindsay CM 26 Don Cowie  90+2' LM 7 Michael Gardyne  88' FW 27 Ross Stewart FW 19 Brian Graham Substitutes: GK 1 Scott Fox DF 3 Sean Kelly MF 14 Josh Mullin  66' MF 16 Lewis Spence  90+2' MF 24 Harry Paton MF 31 Daniel Armstrong  88' DF 44 Tom Grivosti Manager: Stuart Kettlewell and Steve Ferguson

Man of the match: Josh Mullin

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.