The first match was drawn, and Newcastle West won the replay on their own ground 4–2 after extra time.

"[4] However, Cobh's protest, on the grounds that their former player Billy Daly had signed for Newcastle West too late to be eligible to play in the match, was upheld by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI), and they were awarded the tie.

They beat Cobh 1–0, with Daly scoring the winning goal,[7] but lost to Longford Town in the quarter-final, missing out on a potentially lucrative semi-final meeting with Derry City.

[8] In the 1989–90 season, they produced "a shock victory" away to Sligo Rovers in a match where "high-flying tackles and off-the-ball confrontations marred the day",[9] before losing at home in the quarter-final to intermediate club St Francis, who had already knocked out two other League of Ireland clubs in their first FAI Cup campaign.

[3] They had continued to run a team in the Limerick Desmond League, winning Division One for four consecutive seasons between 1989–90 and 1992–93.