2018 Scottish Challenge Cup final
# 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. 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.

## Route to the final

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. Two teams from the Republic of Ireland were added to the competition in 2017–18, following the addition of teams from Wales and Northern Ireland in 2016–17.

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. Bray Wanderers and Sligo Rovers, as the League of Ireland's highest-ranked non-European participants in 2016, were also invited.

### 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

| 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 |
| Man of the match: Coll Donaldson Assistant referees: David Roome & Daniel McFarlane Fourth official: David Munro | 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. |
