2011 Championship Cup

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

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.

2011 Competition results

Round 1
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
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
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
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
2011 Northern Rail Cup: Pool 1
# PLD W D L PF PA PD BP PTS
1 Widnes Vikings 440017872+106012
2 Featherstone Rovers 430113076+54110
3 Dewsbury Rams 43019870+28110
4 Toulouse Olympique 4301138126+1209
5 Barrow Raiders 42028882+628
6 York City Knights 41128694−827
7 Doncaster 4202100124-2417
8 Keighley Cougars 41036884−1614
9 London Skolars 401360144−8413
10 Rochdale Hornets 400470144−7422
  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

Round 1
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
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
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
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
2011 Northern Rail Cup: Pool 2
# PLD W D L PF PA PD BP PTS
1 Leigh Centurions 440017644+132012
2 Halifax 430116364+99110
3 Batley Bulldogs 430110263+3909
4 Hunslet Hawks 420276522428
5 Swinton Lions 420214994+5517
6 Workington Town 420212290+3206
7 Sheffield Eagles 411266120-5416
8 Whitehaven 411254108−5416
9 Oldham R.L.F.C. 410362115−5325
10 Gateshead Thunder 400430250−22011
  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 Tournament Bracket
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
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

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

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
  1. "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 18 July 2011. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  3. "RFL Match Report: Leigh 44 - 10 Dewsbury". The RFL. 19 June 2011. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  4. "RFL Match Report: Halifax 16 - 20 Leigh". The RFL. 17 July 2011. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011.
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