Hi °C | Lo °C Linfield’s Setanta Sports Cup showdown with St Patrick’s Athletic is to be screened live by the competition’s sponsors.
With Derry City being expelled from the cross-border tournament the Blues and St Pat’s will now go head-to-head in a home-and-away contest to see who tops the group.
The first meeting at Richmond Park will take place on Friday, February 26, with a 7.35pm kick-off and will be shown live on Setanta Ireland.
Coleraine’s home game against Bohemians the following day will kick-off at 3pm, while Cliftonville’s trip to Sligo has a 7pm start.
All that means that three Carling Premiership games — Coleraine v Institute, Cliftonville v Lisburn Distillery and Linfield v Portadown — scheduled for that weekend have to be postponed and are expected to take place the following Tuesday.
The final round of Setanta Sports Cup group matches will be played a fortnight later, when Linfield host St Pat’s in the return game, Cliftonville host Cork City and Glentoran travel to Dublin to face Bohs.
All three games will have a 5.15pm kick-off and the live television game will be decided after the penultimate round.
The Glentoran v Institute game and Cliftonville’s clash with Linfield at Solitude will therefore be moved. Again those matches are expected to be rearranged for Tuesday of the following week.
