A round three Championship local derby pitted the Featherstone Rovers against the Bradford Bulls at Post Office Road as both sides sought their second win of the season and hoped to make a move up the league in its early stages.

Featherstone were slight favourites with the bookies due to home advantage but it wasn’t a foregone conclusion according to the bookies as Rovers are struggling to find the form which saw them top the table with ease last season.

It’s early in the season but this game was important for both sides and the result would go some way to showing their intent.

Leigh Leopards entered the Challenge Cup still seeing their first win of 2024 after a disappointing start to the season and were up against Championship side Featherstone Rovers who have also had a mixed start to the season including last weekend’s loss against the Batley Bulldogs.

Leigh were without Gareth O’Brien but relieved that Lachlan Lam was back on the subs bench after suffering a gashed leg against the Rhinos a fortnight ago and they were up against a side who have been dogged by off field problems in the opening weeks of the new season.

Leigh were massive favourites for a big win, Featherstone given a thirty-two-point start n the handicap coupon, the visitors were on a hiding to nothing.

The magic of the Challenge Cup paired the favourites to win this season`s Championship, Wakefield Trinity, against the side who have flirted with promotion for the last couple of seasons but who are currently experiencing some financial difficulties, Featherstone Rovers, in a fifth-round tie to make the mouth water.

Wakefield were favourites with the bookies for the win with a ten-point handicap on the coupon, but Featherstone had home advantage on the notorious pitch at a vociferous and often hostile Post Office Road.

A sixth-round place in a hat full of Super League teams beckoned for the winner over the eighty minutes.

After dominating the league season, it was Featherstone Rovers who were the massive favourites to make progress in the second play-off semi-final as they looked to end the aspirations of the London Broncos and make progress to take on Toulouse Olympique XIII next weekend in the Million Pound game.

Few gave the Broncos any hope as they made their way up the M1 to Post Office Road, many neutrals believing that it was almost pre-destined that it would be Rovers making the move into Super League this season after missing out in the final in 2019 and 2021.

The bookies thought that it was a foregone conclusion, but the Broncos have timed themselves to peak at the right time of the season and came into the game full of optimism about their chances.

Eighth placed Halifax Panthers looked on a hiding to nothing as they welcomed the runaway league leaders, Featherstone Rovers, to The Shay for an unusual Sunday evening kick-off in front of the ViaPlay cameras.

While Featherstone are already close to uncatchable for the Minor Premiership, and a shoe in for promotion, a win this evening would give them a ten-point cushion with just six games remaining in the regular season.

A win for the Panthers would lift them back into the top six and a potential play off place but they came into the game with one eye on next week’s 1895 Cup Final at Wembley Stadium.

The final game of the opening day of the Summer Bash saw the runaway league leaders Featherstone Rovers take on the ‘home’ side, the York RLFC Knights with the rest of the competition hoping that the Knights could spring a surprise and record the flat cappers first league defeat of the season.

The bookies given Gavin Henderson’s battle weary side a twenty-four-point start on the coupon and predicted a massacre, but Sean Long knew that their challenge was not to be taken lightly and that anything but a top-drawer game from the top side in the competition could lead to a slip up, and an end to their eleven-game unbeaten league run.

It was potentially a great game to bring down the curtain on a fantastic first day.

It was the tie which neither side wanted as Featherstone Rovers were drawn out of the hat to play a third round fixture against fellow Championship side, the Halifax Panthers.

An all-conquering Featherstone are currently sat atop the Championship while Halifax are seventh and tucked in nicely as part of the chasing pack.

The two sides met a month ago in the league, Featherstone securing a 46-22 win which made them clear favourites to win this afternoon’s game which was broadcast live on The Sportsman on YouTube.

A place in the fourth round awaited.

The prize on offer for Featherstone Rovers was to go back to two points clear of the opposition as they welcomed the Bradford Bulls, who did the Flat Cappers a massive favour last time out by beating fellow favourites for promotion, Toulouse Olympique XIII.

A win for the Bulls would lift them into a group of four sides on eight points, but after making the short trip to Post Office Road they knew that they would need to pull out a top-drawer performance to beat Sean Long´s side and take the points.

The West Yorkshire derby, on a cold March Monday evening, had the potential to be a classic so long as both sides brought their A-game.

With Leigh Centurions comfortably into the Million Pound Game with a comprehensive win over the York City Knights, all that remained was to determine their opposition next Sunday night as Featherstone Rovers took on the Batley Bulldogs for the chance to take a tilt at Super League rugby in 2023.

The home side were massive favourites with the bookies and the pundits and been handicapped by sixteen points on the coupon before kick-off.

But coach Brian McDermott was cautious coming into the game as Batley were unbeaten in 2022 by Rovers having drawn 20-20 when the two sides met in March before recording a 28-20 victory away in June.

Both sides were unchanged from their last outing.

The final game of the Summer Bash at Headingley faw first take on second in a game billed as 'the main event' – a match that had neutrals salivating with Leigh having come into their own after an early season which saw Featherstone dominate the league.

Rovers coach Brian McDermott had no doubts about the game he was facing, naming four forwards on his interchange bench.

The Monday evening televised Premier Sports game between the top two in the Championship saw Featherstone Rovers travel to Leigh Centurions for an encounter which had more of a game of the season feel to it, than just a boring old game of the round.

The Centurions only league loss of the season was the round two defeat away at Featherstone, while it was the Centurions who emerged with the Trophy when the two sides met in the 1895 Cup Final a couple of short weeks ago.

Honours shared so far in 2022 but this game would determine who sat at the top of the league at the end of round fifteen, and who was in pole position to top the table come the end of the season.

The home side were big favourites with the bookies, but despite several injuries it would be a fool that would write off Brian McDermott’s flat cappers from taking home the points.

A place at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on the 28^th May was up for grabs as Barrow Raiders hosted Featherstone Rovers in the first semi-final of the AB Sundecks 1895 Cup in wall to wall sunshine on the Cumbria coast.

Featherstone are currently sat at the top of the Championship and remain unbeaten in the league in 2022 while their opponents, who have performed far better than most pundits would have predicted, are currently in sixth spot.

Barrow would be hoping for a better performance to the one that they put in when they were dominated by Featherstone in mid-April and went down by 58-6 in the game in West Yorkshire.

Few gave the home side any hope of springing a surprise against Brian McDermott´s superstars.

Following the midweek departure of coach Simon Finnigan, the Widnes Vikings had the most difficult of tasks as they travelled over the Pennines to take on the Champions elect in the form of Brian McDermott´s Featherstone Rovers who were seeking the win to go back above Leigh to the top of the table.

Some recent heavy defeats have shattered the Vikings confidence and dashed their hopes of a play-off place, but Featherstone are flying high remaining unbeaten thus far in the championship season.

The bookies were certain the Rovers would pick up the two points, and few, if any, in the stadium would argue any different.

Ninth-placed Bradford Bull welcomed Featherstone Rovers to their narrow Odsall pitch, off the back of  two narrow defeats, including a loss to Halifax Panthers, who played 79 minutes of the match with 12 men.

The visitors arrived unbeaten, amidst a flurry of speculation around the possible signing of former Wigan full back/centre Zak Hardaker, who the Cherry and Whites had released "to persue career options" in his home territory of West Yorkshire.

Of immediate interest, though, was the return of winter signing Jesse Sene-Lefao following an injury in the opening game of the season.

At stake were two vital league points - as well as the Peter Fox memorial trophy.

The game of the round in the Betfred Championship was the second against third encounter as Featherstone Rovers entertained the surprise package of 2022, Barrow Raiders, with both sides having plenty to play for.

A win for Rivers would see them go back to the top, jumping ahead of the Leigh Centurions who recorded a big win over Widnes during the earlier kick-off, while a Barrow win would see them level on points with their hosts at the end of the round.

As the sun started to dip, Mark Kheirallah made his second appearance for Featherstone against a Barrow side packed with experience.

The pundits and the bookies thought that there could only be one winner as Brian McDermott´s unbeaten Featherstone Rovers visited Batley to take on a Craig Lingard´s Bulldogs side who are currently six places below them in the Championship table.

Featherstone overcame a possible banana skin fixture in the fourth round when they beat Halifax Panthers while passage was far easier for Batley who comprehensively beat the Royal navy.

It was blowing a gale at Mount Pleasant and when you factor in the famous slope, it was enough to cause Featherstone concern.

A fixture between Featherstone Rovers and Leigh Centurions would be the game of the round on any given weekend of Betfred Championship rugby and with both clubs hopeful and optimistic of ending the season by being promoted to Super League for 2023 there was little wonder that Premier Sports selected it for their second edition of Monday night football.

Both sides secured a win in the competitions opening round last weekend, and knew that they needed a win to keep level with the three unbeaten sides at the top of the table; Widnes, Batley and Barrow.

It was two coaches with masses of Super League experience and pedigree as Brian McDermott came up against Adrian Lam in an early season crunch game.

York City Knights and Featherstone Rovers rounded off the opening round of the Betfred Championship at the former's LNER Community Stadium, with the visitors the red hot favourites to win - and indeed to get to the season climax in the Million Pound Game.

A place in the Million Pound Game against Toulouse Olympique XIII in the south of France, awaited the winners of the second semi-final between Featherstone Rovers and the Halifax Panthers as the West Yorkshire sides came together with one eye on a place in Super League for 2022.

Featherstone were massive favourites with the bookies, who had given the Panthers a twenty-six point start on the handicap coupon.

Rovers took the spoils on both occasions that the two sides met this season, including a 54-22 win at the start of September, and came into the game undefeated in the last seven outings.

The Betfred Championships game of the day was without doubt the clash at Odsal between third placed Bradford Bulls and second placed Featherstone Rovers who were looking to maintain their one hundred percent record and keep up the pressure on a Toulouse Olympique side who are top of the table courtesy of a superior points difference.

The home side had Sam Hallas back in their line-up but were without Aaron Murphy and Thomas Doyle who both had minor injuries keeping them out of the game while Rovers welcomed back Kris Welham but were without the services of Craig Kopczak who was rested.

Despite home advantage the Bulls were the underdogs with the bookies, Featherstone clear favourites to record their thirteenth win of the season with Bradford getting a twelve-point start on the coupon.