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.

After a days long ‘will they, won’t they’ the AB Sundecks 1895 cup final was given the go ahead as two Covid depleted sides, and their fans, made their way to Wembley Stadium for the Challenge Cup curtain raiser and a chance to lift the first trophy of the season.

Featherstone came into the game on the back of twelve straight wins in the 2021 Championship season, their only loss of the season coming to Superleague opposition in Hull FC in the Challenge Cup.

The experienced City Knights have had a disappointing season with just four wins in thirteen league outings and having lost their last four as well as going down by 16-12 when they faced Rovers earlier in the season.

The bookies and pundits couldn’t see past a Featherstone win, with many also fancying them to go on and secure promotion to Superleague at the end of the season.

Featherstone Rovers and the Leeds Rhinos met in the second round of the Women’s Super League with the reigning Champions looking to record their second win at the start of the 2021 season while Rovers hoped for a better showing after suffering a heavy defeat to Castleford Tigers in their opening fixture.

Belle Vue in Wakefield was the venue for a double header with the Rhinos being big favourites to take the two points and move to the top of the table, at least until Saints played their game later on in the afternoon.

The Betfred Challenge Cup threw up a good old-fashioned Yorkshire derby as Post Office Road played host to a clash between the two old enemies, Featherstone Rovers and the Bradford Bulls.

Rovers came into the game as strong favourites for the win and progress into the second round and a home game against the Batley Bulldogs, but with neither side having had a competitive run-out for over a year, it was a bit of a lottery.

There was just one place between these two sides in the final league table in 2019, Featherstone finishing fifth and the Bulls in sixth.

The two sides met in the fifth round in 2019, the Bulls winning by golden point after a humdinger of a game.

Eighty minutes stood between two sides and a trip to Toronto to face the Wolfpack next Sunday in the Million Pound Game for the right to play in Super League in 2020.

Toulouse Olympique XIII had the home advantage as they looked to secure the trip but they were up against a Featherstone Rovers side who were high on confidence after defeating both Leigh Centurions and the York City Knights in the play-off series so far.

Toulouse emerged victorious from both league matched in 2019 but the largest winning margin was just six points.

The outcome when the two sides met on the 7th September was a narrow two point win to the French side.

It promised to be a close game.

Two sides with contracting fortunes in the opening week of the play-offs came together for a sudden death eliminator at Bootham Crescent, as the York City Knights took on a Featherstone Rovers side who outplayed Leigh Centurions last weekend.

Featherstone comprehensively won two of the three meetings between the two sides in 2019, although it was the City Knights who won the most recent encounter, by a narrow 22-18 scorline.

One of these sides would be ending the season here and taking a well earned rest after a long season, the other would be going forward for an international trip to either Toulouse or Toronto to play in the second semi-final to keep their hopes alive.

It was knock-out football as the Betfred Championship Play-Offs arrived at Leigh Sports Village, where fifth placed Featherstone Rovers met the Leigh Centurions for the priviledge of a semi-final encounter against the York City Knight next weekend.

Both sides were without some key players as they went into a nerve-wracking sudden death battle.

The last time that they met was in West Yorkshire when Rovers secured a 24-20 win but when Rovers visited the LSV in February it was the home side who took the win with a 29-20 victory.

Leigh were big favourites with the bookies but this was knockout football, anything could happen.

With Toulouse having been defeated by Toronto in an earlier match at the Summer Bash, York knew that a win would lift them level on points with the French outfit as they took on the Featherstone Rovers in the third game of an action packed afternoon in Blackpool.

It was a comprehensive 42-12 win for Rovers the last time that the two sides met and The Colliers knew that a win of any description would lift them into fourth spot and a play-off position ahead of the weekends remaining games.

For the last two years the Challenge Cup Trophy has been adorned with the Black & White ribbons of Hull FC and they began their defence tonight with a potential ‘banana skin’ of an away trip to Featherstone Rovers to take on one of the side who are heading for the middle eights.

It’s almost  three years since Hull FC last lost a Challenge Cup tie, a game against eventual winners Leeds Rhinos, on the 26th June 2015.

  Featherstone Rovers were looking to capitalise on the absence of Airlie Birds stars such as Marc Sneyd, Jordan Abdull and Albert Kelly and spring a surprise on the Super League side in front of the SKY TV cameras.

Their side was full of players with Super League experience including Luke Briscoe who was aiming to equal Leeds 1930’s phenomenon Eric Harris’s record of scoring a try in seventeen consecutive games.

The Millpond Stadium in Featherstone was the venue as the second round of the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup pitted the Lions against St Helens side Thatto Heath Crusaders.

It was a National Conference League division one side against a team from the premier with the visitors having the loftier berth for 2018 as defending Champions.

 

Thatto Heath came into the game as clear favourites as the top side in the competition prior to the entry of the Championship One sides, but home advantage would be in Featherstone’s favour.

With Warrington Wolves and Hull KR having just booked their places in Super League 2018, all attention turned to the south of France and the battle for the remaining spot, and the two places in the Million Pound game, as a winless Featherstone Rovers made the trip to the South of France to take on a so-far disappointing Catalans Dragons.



The Dragons were without the services of the suspended Greg Bird as they went into the game desperate for the two points against the side from West Yorkshire who have struggled in the qualifiers.



A massive points win for the Dragons would incredibly see them above Widnes into third spot but a win of any description would see them go fourth and into the home berth for the Million Pound game.

All of the Super League clubs would have been looking for Featherstone Rovers in the draw for the quarter finals of the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup.

The Rhinos were the lucky recipients with a home tie against the only remaining Championship side and were massive favourites with the bookies.



Coach McDermott rang the changes, resting a number of first teamers after a testing and intensive period of Super League.

Many Rhinos supporters were interested to take a look at Cory Aston, the Rhinos half-back on a season long loan to Rovers.



All pre-match indications were that it would be the Rhinos joining Salford Red Devils in the hat for the semi-finals draw, the perfect conditions for a cup shock.

The Ladbroke’s Challenge Cup quarter finals were just eighty minutes of rugby league away for either Feathersone Rovers or Halifax RLFC.

Halifax saw off Whitehaven in round five when they went on the road and won by 36-12 which Featherstone were at home and put Oldham Roughyeds to the sword by 30-4.



Just two points separate the sides in the Championship with Featherstone in second place and Halifax biting at their heels two points back in fifth.

The bookies had made the home side the favourites with Halifax getting a ten point start on the coupon but this was the cup and form and league position was out of the window.



The two sides met in the opening fixture of the Championship season when Fev’ visited ‘Fax and won by 32-26.

But this was a cup battle of nerve between Jon Sharp’s Rovers and Richard Marshall’s Halifax.

When the Leeds Rhinos completed the treble at the end of 2015 you'd have got very long odds on them being involved in the 2016 super eights qualifiers and fighting for their Super League existence in 2017.



Today they made the short trip to Post Office Road to take on a Featherstone Rovers side who controlled their own destiny in beating the Bradford Bulls in the last round of the regular Championship season to leapfrog their opponents into the qualifiers and begin their quest for Super League.



Jon Sharp's Fev side came into the game looking for an upset but were up against a Rhinos side who had found form as the regular season ended and came into today's game on the back of five wins in their last six outings.

A win for Featherstone Rovers would see them leapfrog Bradford Bulls and Batley Bulldogs to take a place in the all important top four, but Halifax had a chance of joining Fev' and the Bulls on eighteen points if they could get the two points.



When these two sides met at the beginning of April it was a narrow one-point win for Halifax thanks to a last minute Tyrer penalty after a seventy-ninth minute Lilley drop goal.



The stage was set for a mouthwatering finale to a Summer Bash which had promised, and delivered, a superb weekend of rugby.

No-one was prepared for what would unfold.

Graham Walker won his second Manager of the Month award in May 2013 with the narrowest of victories over Bates Bulldogs, managed by Eyelids 01.



Both players tied on 392 points for the month but Featherstone Phoenix won on a better Round 17 score over his closest of rivals.

Wolfiesden came an honourable third with 389 points.