“Shite” – Wakefield Trinity fans furious after shock cup exit

In a major shock, Wakefield Trinity have been bumped out of the Betfred Challenge Cup by Featherstone Rovers despite being tipped to be the side who dominates the second tier in 2024.

They battled back from 10-0 down to send the game to golden point extra time where a Mason Lino error was pounced on by Gareth Gale who ran the distance to score and win the game 14-10 and send the Rovers through to the next round of the Challenge Cup.

Wakefield fans, after being labelled the overwhelming favourites in the second tier, were not too pleased.

However, one fan took to X to say they were glad to be out of the competition: “Glad we’re out to be honest so we can concentrate on the other cup and the league, more realistic and beneficial. Be some sore tired bodies after that mud bath. Congratulations Featherstone.”

Another slammed the conditions which resulted in an effective mud bath at Post Office Road: “Poor game, conditions were horrendous.”

Other criticisms came for the performance such as: “Reality check”,  “Poor performance” and  “Propper needed a wake up call. Go again next week.”

One fan simply said: “That was shite.”

Time to change the Challenge Cup after Wakefield Trinity clash

The game today was a really special occasion. It was the first time these two sides had met in a competitive fixture for an entire generation.

The last time we saw an occasion like this at Post Office Road was probably back in the 2012 season when the Rovers hosted Castleford Tigers at the stadium in the rain and stunned their Super League rivals ironically under Daryl Powell.

They went on to lose to Wigan Warriors in the next round at the same stadium. These kind of occasions should be championed.

This was a terrific proper cup clash in the rain and a real mud bath which only made the game more special as did the derby atmosphere and the first look at Featherstone Rovers taking on the favourites to win the Betfred Championship.

This all came together brilliantly in the game but of course the way the Challenge Cup is currently done it means fixtures like this are few and far between. We need more occasions like today’s game and hopefully IMG’s re-imagining of the sport will change this.

What is a shame is the fact that the current system means we won’t see this star studded Wakefield Trinity side test themselves against Super League opposition fortunately and that should be an interesting watch after they came close to promotion at the end of last year so it may be a case of what might have been.