1977–78 Irish Cup

1977–78 Irish Cup

Tournament details
Country	Northern Ireland
Teams	16
Defending champions	Coleraine
Final positions
Champions	Linfield (31st win)
Runner-up	Ballymena United
Tournament statistics
Matches played	18
Goals scored	71 (3.94 per match)

The 1977–78 Irish Cup was the 98th edition of the Irish Cup, Northern Ireland's premier football knock-out cup competition. It began on 4 February 1978, and concluded on 29 April 1978 with the final.

The defending champions were Coleraine, after they defeated Linfield 4–1 in the 1976–77 final. However, Linfield gained revenge by knocking the holders out with a 2–1 win in the first round. Linfield went on to win the cup for the 31st time, defeating Ballymena United 3–1 in the final.

Results

First round

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Ards	5–2	Dungannon Swifts
Ballymena United	6–2	Downpatrick Rec.
Cliftonville	1–3	Bangor
Dundela	1–21	Crusaders
Glenavon	1–3	Larne
Glentoran	5–1	RUC
Linfield	2–1	Coleraine
Portadown	5–3	Distillery

¹This tie required a replay, after the first game was a 2–2 draw.

Quarter-finals

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Ballymena United	1–0	Ards
Bangor	0–6	Portadown
Crusaders	1–0	Larne
Linfield	4–3	Glentoran

Semi-finals

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Ballymena United	1–1 (4–1 p)2	Crusaders
Linfield	2–1	Portadown

²This tie was eventually decided by a penalty shoot-out in the second replay, after all three games ended as 1–1 draws.

Final

29 April 1978

Linfield	3 – 1	Ballymena United
Dornan 14' Garrett 39' Rafferty 83'	Report	Nelson 67'

The Oval, Belfast