The 2011 Championship Cup, (known for commercial reasons as the Northern Rail Cup), was the 10th season of the rugby league football competition for clubs in Great Britain's Co-operative Championship and Championship One.

2011 Championship Cup
Teams20
2011 Season

Leigh Centurions won the final against Halifax by the score of 20–16. The match was played at Bloomfield Road in Blackpool.

Format

edit

The twenty teams are split up into two pools.

Pool A: Featherstone Rovers, Doncaster, London Skolars, Widnes Vikings, Toulouse Olympique, York City Knights, Keighley Cougars, Barrow Raiders, Rochdale Hornets, Dewsbury Rams.

Pool B: Swinton Lions, Halifax RLFC, Batley Bulldogs, Leigh Centurions, Gateshead Thunder, Sheffield Eagles, Oldham, Hunslet Hawks, Workington Town, Whitehaven RLFC.

Each team played two home games and two away games against teams in their pool. The top four teams in each pool following the conclusion of the group stage fixtures progressed into an open draw for the knock-out quarter-final stage. The competition started on 5 February.

Toulouse Olympique competed in the competition for the first time after the withdrawal of Blackpool Panthers who have entered administration. The South Wales Scorpions did not compete. [1]

2011 Competition results

edit

Pool 1

edit

Round 1

edit
Home Score Away Match Information
Date & Time Referee Venue Attendance
  Featherstone Rovers 54–10   Doncaster 4 February, 19:30 GMT Big Fellas Stadium 1,223
  Toulouse Olympique 40–38   Dewsbury Rams 5 February, 16:00 GMT Arnaune Stadium 800
  London Skolars 18–62  Widnes Vikings 6 February, 15:00 GMT New River Stadium 643
  Keighley Cougars 24–6   Rochdale Hornets 6 February, 15:00 GMT Cougar Park 627
  Barrow Raiders 24–20   York City Knights 6 February, 14:00 GMT The Furness Heating Components Stadium 1,305

Round 2

edit
Home Score Away Match Information
Date & Time Referee Venue Attendance
  Widnes Vikings 44–28   Toulouse Olympique 12 February, 18:00 GMT Stobart Stadium Halton 2,376
  Doncaster 32–4   London Skolars 13 February, 15:00 GMT Keepmoat Stadium -
 York City Knights 22–32   Featherstone Rovers 13 February, 15:00 GMT Huntington Stadium 1,387
  Dewsbury Rams 14–0   Keighley Cougars 13 February, 15:00 GMT Tetley's Stadium 758
  Rochdale Hornets 18–30   Barrow Raiders 13 February, 15:00 GMT Spotland Stadium -

Round 3

edit
Home Score Away Match Information
Date & Time Referee Venue Attendance
  Keighley Cougars 22–36   Toulouse Olympique 19 February, 18:00 GMT Cougar Park 513
 London Skolars 16–16   York City Knights 20 February, 15:00 GMT New River Stadium 264
  Doncaster 18–30   Dewsbury Rams 20 February, 15:00 GMT Keepmoat Stadium 555
  Widnes Vikings 50–10   Rochdale Hornets 20 February, 15:00 GMT Stobart Stadium Halton 3,155
  Barrow Raiders 22–28   Featherstone Rovers 20 February, 14:00 GMT The Furness Heating Components Stadium 1,852

Round 4

edit
Home Score Away Match Information
Date & Time Referee Venue Attendance
  Toulouse Olympique 34–22  London Skolars 26 February, 15:00 GMT Arnaune Stadium 998
  Featherstone Rovers 16–22   Widnes Vikings 26 February, 18:00 GMT Big Fellas Stadium 1,719
  Rochdale Hornets 36–40   Doncaster 27 February, 15:00 GMT Spotland Stadium 442
  York City Knights 28–22   Keighley Cougars 27 February, 15:00 GMT Huntington Stadium 748
  Dewsbury Rams 16–12   Barrow Raiders 27 February, 15:00 GMT Tetley's Stadium 911

Pool 1 Qualification Table

edit
2011 Northern Rail Cup: Pool 1
# PLD W D L PF PA PD BP PTS
1   Widnes Vikings 4 4 0 0 178 72 +106 0 12
2   Featherstone Rovers 4 3 0 1 130 76 +54 1 10
3   Dewsbury Rams 4 3 0 1 98 70 +28 1 10
4   Toulouse Olympique 4 3 0 1 138 126 +12 0 9
5   Barrow Raiders 4 2 0 2 88 82 +6 2 8
6   York City Knights 4 1 1 2 86 94 −8 2 7
7   Doncaster 4 2 0 2 100 124 -24 1 7
8   Keighley Cougars 4 1 0 3 68 84 −16 1 4
9   London Skolars 4 0 1 3 60 144 −84 1 3
10   Rochdale Hornets 4 0 0 4 70 144 −74 2 2
  Teams qualifying for the next round

Source: Northern Rail Cup Table – The RFL[1]
Classification: 1st on competition points; 2nd on match points difference.
Competition Points: For win = 3; For draw = 2; For loss by 12 points or fewer = 1

Pool 2

edit

Round 1

edit
Home Score Away Match Information
Date & Time Referee Venue Attendance
  Swinton Lions 22–28   Halifax 4 February, 20:00 GMT The Willows 1,000
  Oldham 28–22   Hunslet Hawks 6 February, 15:00 GMT Whitebank Stadium 685
  Gateshead Thunder 20–32   Sheffield Eagles 6 February, 15:00 GMT Gateshead International Stadium 444
  Batley Bulldogs 4–24   Leigh Centurions 6 February, 14:00 GMT Mount Pleasant 1,072
  Whitehaven 18–28   Workington Town 8 February, 19:30 GMT Recreation Ground 1,005

Round 2

edit
Home Score Away Match Information
Date & Time Referee Venue Attendance
  Workington Town 82–0   Gateshead Thunder 13 February, 15:00 GMT Derwent Park 381
  Sheffield Eagles 16–16   Whitehaven 13 February, 15:00 GMT Bramall Lane 727
  Leigh Centurions 42–22   Swinton Lions 13 February, 15:00 GMT Leigh Sports Village 1,623
  Halifax 50–10   Oldham 13 February, 15:00 GMT The Shay 2,027
  Hunslet Hawks 8–12   Batley Bulldogs 13 February, 15:00 GMT South Leeds Stadium 666

Round 3

edit
Home Score Away Match Information
Date & Time Referee Venue Attendance
  Swinton Lions 29–20   Oldham R.L.F.C. 20 February, 15:00 GMT The Willows 776
  Leigh Centurions 68–6   Sheffield Eagles 20 February, 15:00 GMT Leigh Sports Village 1,520
  Hunslet Hawks 30–0   Workington Town 20 February, 15:00 GMT South Leeds Stadium 379
  Batley Bulldogs 60–6   Gateshead Thunder 20 February, 14:00 GMT Mount Pleasant Stadium 612
  Whitehaven 6–60   Halifax 16 March, 19:30 GMT Recreation Ground 771

Round 4

edit
Home Score Away Match Information
Date & Time Referee Venue Attendance
  Workington Town 12–42   Leigh Centurions 27 February, 15:00 GMT Derwent Park 592
  Oldham R.L.F.C. 4–14   Whitehaven 27 February, 15:00 GMT Whitebank Stadium 544
  Gateshead Thunder 4–76   Swinton Lions 27 February, 15:00 GMT Gateshead International Stadium 323
  Sheffield Eagles 12–16   Hunslet Hawks 27 February, 15:00 GMT Bramall Lane 854
  Halifax 25–26   Batley Bulldogs 27 February, 15:00 GMT The Shay 1,968

Pool 2 Qualification Table

edit
2011 Northern Rail Cup: Pool 2
# PLD W D L PF PA PD BP PTS
1   Leigh Centurions 4 4 0 0 176 44 +132 0 12
2   Halifax 4 3 0 1 163 64 +99 1 10
3   Batley Bulldogs 4 3 0 1 102 63 +39 0 9
4   Hunslet Hawks 4 2 0 2 76 52 24 2 8
5   Swinton Lions 4 2 0 2 149 94 +55 1 7
6   Workington Town 4 2 0 2 122 90 +32 0 6
7   Sheffield Eagles 4 1 1 2 66 120 -54 1 6
8   Whitehaven 4 1 1 2 54 108 −54 1 6
9   Oldham R.L.F.C. 4 1 0 3 62 115 −53 2 5
10   Gateshead Thunder 4 0 0 4 30 250 −220 1 1
  Teams qualifying for the next round

Source: Northern Rail Cup Table – The RFL[1]
Classification: 1st on competition points; 2nd on match points difference.
Competition Points: For win = 3; For draw = 2; For loss by 12 points or fewer = 1

Finals

edit

Finals Tournament Bracket

edit
Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
         
H   Leigh Centurions 50
A   Widnes Vikings 18
H   Featherstone Rovers 30
A   Halifax RLFC 31
H   Hunslet Hawks 12
A   Featherstone Rovers 50
H   Halifax RLFC 16
A   Leigh Centurions 20
H   Toulouse Olympique XIII 26
A   Halifax RLFC 36
H   Leigh Centurions 44
A   Dewsbury Rams 10
H   Dewsbury Rams 38
A   Batley Bulldogs 22

Quarter-finals

edit
Home Score Away Match Information
Date & Time Referee Venue Attendance
  Leigh Centurions 50–18   Widnes Vikings 19:30, 7 April 2011 Leigh Sports Village 2,737
  Hunslet Hawks 12–50   Featherstone Rovers 20:00 8 April 2011 South Leeds Stadium 877
  Toulouse Olympique 26–36   Halifax RLFC 19:00 9 April 2011 Stade de Minimes 850
  Dewsbury Rams 38–22   Batley Bulldogs 15:00 10 April 2011 Tetley's Stadium 1,643

Semi-finals

edit

The semi-finals took place on 16 and 19 June with Sky Sports broadcasting the Featherstone v Halifax game live on Thursday 16 June.

Home Score Away Match Information
Date & Time Referee Venue Attendance
  Featherstone Rovers 30–31   Halifax RLFC Thursday 16 June 2011, 19:30 KO Gareth Hewer Big Fellas Stadium 1,987[2]
  Leigh Centurions 44–10   Dewsbury Rams Sunday 19 June 2011, 15:00 KO Matt Thompson Leigh Sports Village 2,234[3]

Final

edit

The Northern Rail Cup Final took place at Bloomfield Road, Blackpool on Sunday 17 July at 17:00 GMT live on Sky Sports 3. The Match was contested by Halifax RLFC and Leigh Centurions.

This was Halifax's first appearance in the National League Cup final and was he fourth time Leigh have appeared in the final after making the finals in 2003 and winning the final in 2004 & 2006.

The game was won by Leigh 20 points to 16 with Leigh scoring in the final minute thanks to Tom Armstrong.[4] The victory fulfils the on-field criteria that clubs must meet to be allowed to apply for a Super League licence for the 2015–17 period. Leigh Centurions have become the first club to have won the competition on 3 occasions.

Home Score Away Match Information
Date & Time Referee Venue Attendance
Halifax RLFC   16–20 Leigh Centurions   Sunday, 17 July 2011, 17:00 KO Matt Thomason Bloomfield Road, Blackpool 8,522[4]

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "Northern Rail Cup Table". RFL. Archived from the original on 18 February 2012. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  2. ^ "RFL Match Report: Featherstone 30 – 31 Halifax". The RFL. 16 June 2011. Archived from the original on 21 September 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  3. ^ "RFL Match Report: Leigh 44 – 10 Dewsbury". The RFL. 19 June 2011. Archived from the original on 21 September 2012. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  4. ^ a b "RFL Match Report: Halifax 16 – 20 Leigh". The RFL. 17 July 2011. Archived from the original on 21 September 2012.
edit