Nine of the 16 Round Three Challenge Cup ties have been played with Super League teams dominating in the competition’s new format.
A big deal was made of the new format given that Super League teams would enter in Round Three, before the Super League season, with all 12 sides ‘guaranteed’ to have an away tie.
As it happened, four of the twelve played either at home or a neutral venue as their lower league opposition could not accommodate them and those four games were won by an aggregate scoreline of 264-6.
Following three comfortable victories on Friday night for the Super League outfits, Saturday followed suit barring one game which remained competitive until the end.
How Saturday’s Challenge Cup games played out
Halifax Panthers gave Catalans Dragons a scare as Steve McNamara’s side were kept scoreless until a 54th-minute penalty before then scoring two converted tries to win 14-0.
The valiant effort from Fax still saw them remain scoreless with five of the lower league sides failing to register a point.
Leeds just fell short of the century against Wests Warriors as they won 92-0, Wakefield Trinity also got close against Goole Viking with an 82-0 win that sat hattricks for Lachlan Wamsley and Caleb Hamlin-Uele.
The other three matches saw community clubs York Acorn and West Hull put in strong displays against Hull FC and St Helens but they were simply overpowered. The same could be said for Whitehaven who lost 44-4 to Warrington Wolves.
Whilst there are certainly flaws with this Challenge Cup format, the feelgood stories of community clubs playing against internationals and in front of 1,000s of fans is undoubted, with both York Knights and Midlands Hurricanes reporting record ticket sales.
However, on a competitive level, it’s also a hard watch or at least it has been in eight of the nine games so far. Sunday sees a further three Super League sides face lower league opposition including the game that is being touted as a “potential ambush” according to Danny McGuire as his Castleford Tigers face Bradford Bulls.
The draw for Round Four will be conducted next Sunday at halftime of the Super Legaue game between St Helens and Salford Red Devils with further details here.
Challenge Cup Round Three results
Friday, 7th February
Sheffield Eagles 12-48 Wigan Warriors
Workington Town 0-60 Leigh Leopards
York Knights 2-44 Hull KR
Saturday, 8th February
Wests Warriors 0-92 Leeds Rhinos
Halifax Panthers 0-14 Catalans Dragons
York Acorn 6-52 Hull FC
West Hull 0-38 St Helens
Goole Vikings 0-82 Wakefield Trinity
Whitehaven 4-44 Warrington Wolves
Sunday, February 9
Bradford Bulls v Castleford Tigers, KO 1p m – live on BBC iPlayer/BBC Sport/via the Red Button
Batley Bulldogs v Dewsbury Rams, KO 2 pm
Featherstone Rovers v Ince Rose Bridge, KO 2 pm
Midlands Hurricanes v Salford Red Devils, KO 2 pm
North Wales Crusaders v Widnes Vikings, KO 2.30 pm
Oldham RLFC v Barrow Raiders, KO 3 pm
Hunslet RLFC v Huddersfield Giants, KO 3 pm
🙌 Saturday #ChallengeCup complete! pic.twitter.com/HTF7Tp4NLw
— Betfred Challenge Cup (@TheChallengeCup) February 8, 2025
1 Comment
Leave a Reply
Leave a Reply
John Andrews
February 8, 2025 at 5:35 pm
WHAT A THE RFL THINK THEYR’E DOING TO THE CHALLENGE CUP IS BEYOND ME IT’S TOTAL MOKERY OF THE ONCE HISTORICAL COMPETITION SETTING LITTLE CLUBS AGAINST THE LIKES OF THE GIANTS OF THE GAME THE ONLY WAY TO MAKE THINGS WORTHWHILE IS POOLS OF LEAGUE TEAMS THEN MIX IT UP IN THE LATTER STAGES IMO!