2011 Championship Cup Explained

2011 Championship Cup
Pixels:200px
No Of Teams:20
Season:2011 Season
Mvp Link:Man of Steel Award
Prevseason Link:2010 Championship Cup
Prevseason Year:2010
Nextseason Link:2012 Championship Cup
Nextseason Year:2012

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.

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.https://web.archive.org/web/20101203170447/http://www.therfl.co.uk/news/article/cumbrian-clash-opens-2011-season

2011 Competition results

Pool 1

Round 1

HomeScoreAwayMatch Information
width=15%Date & Timewidth=15%Refereewidth=15%Venuewidth=10%Attendance
Featherstone Rovers54–10 Doncaster4 February, 19:30 GMTBig Fellas Stadium1,223
align=left Toulouse Olympique40–38align=left Dewsbury Rams5 February, 16:00 GMTArnaune Stadium800
align=left London Skolars18–62align=left Widnes Vikings6 February, 15:00 GMTNew River Stadium643
align=left Keighley Cougars24–6align=left Rochdale Hornets6 February, 15:00 GMTCougar Park627
align=left Barrow Raiders24–20align=left York City Knights6 February, 14:00 GMTThe Furness Heating Components Stadium1,305

Round 2

HomeScoreAwayMatch Information
width=15%Date & Timewidth=15%Refereewidth=15%Venuewidth=10%Attendance
align=left Widnes Vikings44–28align=left Toulouse Olympique12 February, 18:00 GMTStobart Stadium Halton2,376
align=left Doncaster32–4align=left London Skolars13 February, 15:00 GMTKeepmoat Stadium-
align=left York City Knights22–32align=left Featherstone Rovers13 February, 15:00 GMTHuntington Stadium1,387
align=left Dewsbury Rams14–0align=left Keighley Cougars13 February, 15:00 GMTTetley's Stadium758
align=left Rochdale Hornets18–30align=left Barrow Raiders13 February, 15:00 GMTSpotland Stadium-

Round 3

HomeScoreAwayMatch Information
width=15%Date & Timewidth=15%Refereewidth=15%Venuewidth=10%Attendance
align=left Keighley Cougars22–36align=left Toulouse Olympique19 February, 18:00 GMTCougar Park513
align=left London Skolars16–16align=left York City Knights20 February, 15:00 GMTNew River Stadium264
align=left Doncaster18–30align=left Dewsbury Rams20 February, 15:00 GMTKeepmoat Stadium555
align=left Widnes Vikings50–10align=left Rochdale Hornets20 February, 15:00 GMTStobart Stadium Halton3,155
align=left Barrow Raiders22–28align=left Featherstone Rovers20 February, 14:00 GMTThe Furness Heating Components Stadium1,852

Round 4

HomeScoreAwayMatch Information
width=15%Date & Timewidth=15%Refereewidth=15%Venuewidth=10%Attendance
align=left Toulouse Olympique34–22align=left London Skolars26 February, 15:00 GMTArnaune Stadium998
align=left Featherstone Rovers16–22align=left Widnes Vikings26 February, 18:00 GMTBig Fellas Stadium1,719
align=left Rochdale Hornets36–40align=left Doncaster27 February, 15:00 GMTSpotland Stadium442
align=left York City Knights28–22align=left Keighley Cougars27 February, 15:00 GMTHuntington Stadium748
align=left Dewsbury Rams16–12align=left Barrow Raiders27 February, 15:00 GMTTetley's Stadium911

Pool 1 Qualification Table

2011 Northern Rail Cup: Pool 1
1 Widnes Vikings4 4 0 0 178 72 +106 0 12
2 Featherstone Rovers4 3 0 1 130 76 +54 1 10
3 Dewsbury Rams4 3 0 1 98 70 +28 1 10
4 Toulouse Olympique4 3 0 1 138 126 +12 0 9
5 Barrow Raiders4 2 0 2 88 82 +6 2 8
6 York City Knights4 1 1 2 86 94 −8 2 7
7 Doncaster4 2 0 2 100 124 -24 1 7
8 Keighley Cougars4 1 0 3 68 84 −16 1 4
9 London Skolars4 0 1 3 60 144 −84 1 3
10 Rochdale Hornets4 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

Round 1

HomeScoreAwayMatch Information
width=15%Date & Timewidth=15%Refereewidth=15%Venuewidth=10%Attendance
align=left Swinton Lions22–28align=left Halifax4 February, 20:00 GMTThe Willows1,000
align=left Oldham28–22align=left Hunslet Hawks6 February, 15:00 GMTWhitebank Stadium685
align=left Gateshead Thunder20–32align=left Sheffield Eagles6 February, 15:00 GMTGateshead International Stadium444
align=left Batley Bulldogs4–24align=left Leigh Centurions6 February, 14:00 GMTMount Pleasant1,072
align=left Whitehaven18–28align=left Workington Town8 February, 19:30 GMTRecreation Ground1,005

Round 2

HomeScoreAwayMatch Information
width=15%Date & Timewidth=15%Refereewidth=15%Venuewidth=10%Attendance
align=left Workington Town82–0align=left Gateshead Thunder13 February, 15:00 GMTDerwent Park381
align=left Sheffield Eagles16–16align=left Whitehaven13 February, 15:00 GMTBramall Lane727
align=left Leigh Centurions42–22align=left Swinton Lions13 February, 15:00 GMTLeigh Sports Village1,623
align=left Halifax50–10align=left Oldham13 February, 15:00 GMTThe Shay2,027
align=left Hunslet Hawks8–12align=left Batley Bulldogs13 February, 15:00 GMTSouth Leeds Stadium666

Round 3

HomeScoreAwayMatch Information
width=15%Date & Timewidth=15%Refereewidth=15%Venuewidth=10%Attendance
align=left Swinton Lions29–20align=left Oldham R.L.F.C.20 February, 15:00 GMTThe Willows776
align=left Leigh Centurions68–6align=left Sheffield Eagles20 February, 15:00 GMTLeigh Sports Village1,520
align=left Hunslet Hawks30–0align=left Workington Town20 February, 15:00 GMTSouth Leeds Stadium379
align=left Batley Bulldogs60–6align=left Gateshead Thunder20 February, 14:00 GMTMount Pleasant Stadium612
align=left Whitehaven6–60align=left Halifax16 March, 19:30 GMTRecreation Ground771

Round 4

HomeScoreAwayMatch Information
width=15%Date & Timewidth=15%Refereewidth=15%Venuewidth=10%Attendance
align=left Workington Town12–42align=left Leigh Centurions27 February, 15:00 GMTDerwent Park592
align=left Oldham R.L.F.C.4–14align=left Whitehaven27 February, 15:00 GMTWhitebank Stadium544
align=left Gateshead Thunder4–76align=left Swinton Lions27 February, 15:00 GMTGateshead International Stadium323
align=left Sheffield Eagles12–16align=left Hunslet Hawks27 February, 15:00 GMTBramall Lane854
align=left Halifax25–26align=left Batley Bulldogs27 February, 15:00 GMTThe Shay1,968

Pool 2 Qualification Table

2011 Northern Rail Cup: Pool 2
1 Leigh Centurions4 4 0 0 176 44 +132 0 12
2 Halifax4 3 0 1 163 64 +99 1 10
3 Batley Bulldogs4 3 0 1 102 63 +39 0 9
4 Hunslet Hawks4 2 0 2 76 52 24 2 8
5 Swinton Lions4 2 0 2 149 94 +55 1 7
6 Workington Town4 2 0 2 122 90 +32 0 6
7 Sheffield Eagles4 1 1 2 66 120 -54 1 6
8 Whitehaven4 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 Thunder4 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

Quarter-finals

HomeScoreAwayMatch Information
width=15%Date & Timewidth=15%Refereewidth=15%Venuewidth=10%Attendance
align=left Leigh Centurions50–18align=left Widnes Vikings19:30, 7 April 2011Leigh Sports Village2,737
Hunslet Hawks12–50 Featherstone Rovers20:00 8 April 2011South Leeds Stadium877
align=left Toulouse Olympique26–36align=left Halifax RLFC19:00 9 April 2011Stade de Minimes850
align=left Dewsbury Rams38–22align=left Batley Bulldogs15:00 10 April 2011Tetley's Stadium1,643

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.

HomeScoreAwayMatch Information
width=15%Date & Timewidth=15%Refereewidth=15%Venuewidth=10%Attendance
align=left Featherstone Rovers30–31align=left Halifax RLFCThursday 16 June 2011, 19:30 KOGareth HewerBig Fellas Stadium1,987[2]
Leigh Centurions44–10 Dewsbury RamsSunday 19 June 2011, 15:00 KOMatt ThompsonLeigh Sports Village2,234[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. 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.

HomeScoreAwayMatch Information
width=15%Date & Timewidth=15%Refereewidth=15%Venuewidth=10%Attendance
Halifax RLFC 16–20Leigh Centurions Sunday, 17 July 2011, 17:00 KOMatt ThomasonBloomfield Road, Blackpool8,522[4]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Northern Rail Cup Table. RFL. 16 April 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20120218002948/http://www.cooperativechampionship.co.uk/table_nrc.php. 18 February 2012. dead.
  2. Web site: RFL Match Report: Featherstone 30 – 31 Halifax . https://web.archive.org/web/20120921020443/http://www.therfl.co.uk/matchday/results/report?7208 . 16 June 2011 . The RFL . 21 September 2012 . dead . 18 July 2011 .
  3. Web site: RFL Match Report: Leigh 44 – 10 Dewsbury . https://web.archive.org/web/20120921020528/http://www.therfl.co.uk/matchday/results/report?7209 . 19 June 2011 . The RFL . 21 September 2012 . dead . 18 July 2011 .
  4. Web site: RFL Match Report: Halifax 16 – 20 Leigh . https://web.archive.org/web/20120921020611/http://www.therfl.co.uk/matchday/results/report?7343 . 17 July 2011 . The RFL . 21 September 2012 . dead .

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