The 2009 Challenge Cup (also known as the Carnegie Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 108th staging of the most prestigious knock-out competition in rugby league. Teams from England, Scotland, Wales, France and Russia were included in the tournament. It began in January 2009.
Teams from the Co-operative Championship received byes into round three along with four teams from France, and the winner of the Russian Championship. Teams from the Super League enter in round four.
Defending champions St. Helens lost in the semi-final 14 – 24 to the Huddersfield Giants who went on to lose the final 16 – 25 to the Warrington Wolves.
For 2009, the early stages of the competition was revamped. As the competition has expanded, there was now a preliminary round before the first round, and teams were placed into two 'pools' for the preliminary, first and second rounds.
Pools
Pool A features 48 teams, made up as follows: The 40 teams from the National Conference League The winners of the five major BARLA Regional Leagues The winners of the three major BARLA Regional Cup Competitions – Yorkshire, North West & Cumberland
Pool B features 16 teams, which is a mixed bag of Rugby League Conference teams (including representatives from Scotland and Wales), armed forces representative teams and University teams.
Preliminary round
Pool A All matches were due to be played on 3–4 January, however, winter weather forced the postponement of most of these fixtures due to frozen pitches. The round is divided into two pools, with several teams receiving a bye to the First Round:
Tie noHome teamScoreAway team1 † Eccles and Salford Juniors6–22 Saddleworth Rangers2 † Egremont Rangers14–8 Thornhill Trojans3 † Ovenden22–20 Oulton Raiders4 Skirlaugh56–4 Heworth5 † Wath Brow Hornets18–14 Millom6 Siddal30–12 Normanton Knights7 † Stanningley16–18 Hull Dockers8 † Halifax Irish10–22 Bradford Dudley Hill9 † Rochdale Mayfield12–36 Leigh East10 Halton Simms Cross46–12 York Acorn11 † Ellenborough4–20 Wigan St Patricks12 † Bank Quay Bulls6–19 Queens13 † Oldham St Annes16–30 Wigan St Judes14 † Widnes St Maries22–8 Ince Rose Bridge15 Shaw Cross Sharks16–21 Castleford Lock Lane16 Stanley Rangers12–40 Leigh Miners Rangers
†: fixtures rearranged due to frozen pitches. New dates varied between teams, depending on clashes with league fixtures and weather.
Pool B Fixtures played 17–18 January: Tie noHome teamScoreAway team1 Bristol Sonics8–52 Leeds Met Carnegie2 University of Wales Institute18–20 Valley Cougars3 Loughborough University26–16 Nottingham Outlaws4 West London Sharks10–22 The Army
Pool A Byes: West Hull, Thatto Heath Crusaders, Myton Warriors, Orchard Park and Greenwood, Eastmoor Dragons, East Hull, Sharlston Rovers, Kells, Hull Isberg, East Leeds, Pilkington Recs, West Bowling, Milford Marlins, Crossfields, Waterhead, Castleford Panthers
Pool B Byes: St Mary's University College, RAF, Warrington Wizards, Featherstone Lions, Hull University, Edinburgh Eagles, Northumbria University, Royal Navy
Round 1 All matches played on 24–25 January. The round was divided into two pools, with the teams that received a bye in the last round entering.
Pool A Tie noHome teamScoreAway team1Kells26–14Eastmoor Dragons2West Hull56–0East Leeds3West Bowling32–6East Hull4Milford Marlins14–24Pilkington Recs5 †Hull Dockers34–4Ovenden6 †Castleford Panthers12–26Leigh Miners Rangers7Waterhead14–16Castleford Lock Lane8 †Siddal36–12Thatto Heath9 †Crosfields10–36Sharlston Rovers10Wigan St Patricks24–18Skirlaugh11Egremont Rangers0–42Wath Brow Hornets12Leigh East68–0Orchard Park and Greenwood13Hull Isberg12–36Saddleworth Rangers14Queens13–0Halton Simms Cross15Wigan St Judes34–20Myton Warriors16Bradford Dudley Hill19–24Widnes St Maries †: fixtures rearranged for 31 January due to flooded pitches.
Pool B Tie noHome teamScoreAway team1Featherstone Lions18–12Hull University2RAF16–18Edinburgh Eagles3Loughborough University40–12St Mary's University College4Leeds Met Carnegie36–6Warrington Wizards5The Navy38–28Valley Cougars6The Army72–0Northumbria University
Round 2 Draw hosted by Wath Brow Hornets on 27 January, as the winners of the Cumbrian derby in the first round. Matches were played 14–15 February.
Pool A
Tie noHome teamScoreAway team1Wigan St Patricks20–16West Hull2Widnes St Maries8–15Queens3Wath Brow Hornets40–22Hull Dockers4Kells31–22Leigh Miners Rangers5Wigan St Judes24–28Pilkington Recs6Siddal34–10West Bowling7Sharlston Rovers20–10Leigh East8Saddleworth20–16Castleford Lock Lane
Pool B
Tie noHome teamScoreAway team1Loughborough University20–18The Navy2Leeds Met Carnegie20–6Edinburgh Eagles3Featherstone Lions12–30The Army
Round 3 Draw was made live on BBC Radio Manchester on 17 February. All twenty Co-operative Championship teams were added into the competition in this round, as well as four teams from the French Elite One Championship, and winners of the 2008 Russian Championship, RC Lokomotiv Moscow. The matches were played on 7–8 March.
Tie noHome teamScoreAway team 1 Siddal 6–10 Swinton Lions 2 York City Knights 50–10 Wigan St Patricks 3 Featherstone Rovers 94–2 The Army 41 Queens A–A Doncaster 5 Pilkington Recs 24–34 Batley Bulldogs 6 Barrow Raiders 44–12 Blackpool Panthers 7 Gateshead Thunder 42–38 Whitehaven 8 Workington Town 6–18 Lézignan Sangliers 9 Leigh Centurions 82–6 RC Lokomotiv Moscow 10 Oldham R.L.F.C. 26–8 Sharlston 11 Sheffield Eagles 22–6 Toulouse Olympique 12 Leeds Met Carnegie 24–38 Rochdale Hornets 13 Widnes Vikings 88–0 Saddleworth 14 Wath Brow Hornets 14–12 London Skolars 15 Keighley Cougars 30–24 Pia Donkeys 162 Kells 12–22 Hunslet Hawks 17 Halifax 80–16 Loughborough University 18 Dewsbury Rams 18–6 AS Carcassonne
1: Match was abandoned on 61st minute due to crowd trouble. Doncaster went through due to them being ahead at the time. The RFL upheld the decision after an investigation. It was the first time a rugby league game has been abandoned in England due to crowd trouble in over 70 years. 2: Match postponed due to waterlogged pitch.
Round 4
The draw for round 4 was made live on 9 March on BBC Radio 5 Live. The sixteen victorious Co-operative Championship teams from round 3 were joined by all fourteen Super League XIV teams, as well as Wath Brow Hornets, the competition's only amateur club remaining at this stage, and Lezignan, making this the Round of 32. From this point, no more teams were added to the competition.
All ties were played 3–5 April.
HomeScoreAwayMatch informationDate and timeVenueRefereeAttendance Swinton Lions22–28 Rochdale Hornets3 April, 19:30 BSTPark LanePeter Brooke525 Halifax20–16 Widnes Vikings3 April, 20:00 BSTShay StadiumRichard Silverwood3,204 Hull Kingston Rovers32–6 Crusaders3 April, 20:00 BSTNew Craven ParkThierry Alibert7,104 Sheffield Eagles28–18 Dewsbury Rams3 April, 20:00 BSTDon Valley StadiumRobert Hicks597 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats54–0 Leigh Centurions3 April, 20:00 BSTBelle VueGareth Hewer2,637 Warrington Wolves56–10 York City Knights4 April, 14:00 BSTHalliwell Jones StadiumJames Child6,000 Harlequins16–42 Huddersfield Giants4 April, 15:00 BSTThe Twickenham StoopBen Thaler2,500 Batley Bulldogs28–24 Hunslet Hawks5 April, 14:00 BSTMount PleasantDave Merrick633 Featherstone Rovers54–16 Wath Brow Hornets5 April, 14:00 BSTChris Moyles StadiumGreg Dolan1,180 Oldham R.L.F.C.60–30 Lézignan Sangliers5 April, 14:00 BSTBoundary ParkRonnie Laughton863 Catalans Dragons40–38 Bradford Bulls5 April, 14:30 BSTStade Gilbert BrutusSteve Ganson6,450 Barrow Raiders20–32 Wigan Warriors5 April, 15:00 BSTCraven ParkJamie Leahy6,275 Doncaster18–32 Gateshead Thunder5 April, 15:00 BSTKeepmoat StadiumCraig Halloran458 Keighley Cougars20–64 Castleford Tigers5 April, 15:00 BSTCougar ParkMatthew Thomason3,255 Hull F.C.18–22 Salford City Reds5 April, 15:15 BSTKC StadiumIan Smith8,945 Leeds Rhinos18–22 St. Helens5 April, 16:30 BSTHeadingley StadiumPhil Bentham17,689
Average attendance: 4,270
Round 5
The sixteen teams remaining after Round 4 were randomly paired against each other, in a draw held at RAF Leeming on 7 April involving AVM Chris Davison, Director of the RAF Sports Board, and Barrie McDermott, former Leeds and Great Britain and Ireland player.
All matches were played on 9–10 May. The match between Gateshead Thunder and Oldham R.L.F.C. was due to be played at the Gateshead International Stadium, since Gateshead were the home team, however the match was rearranged to be played at the Darlington Arena due to a fixture clash between a playoff match for Gateshead F.C., who share the stadium with the rugby league side, and an athletics meeting. This was the first ever professional rugby league match to be held inside County Durham.
The first match of this round was a repeat of a Super League fixture only thirteen days earlier. Wakefield Trinity took the initial lead, scoring ten points in six minutes, before Wigan levelled the game by the 24th minute. An early drop goal by Danny Brough edged Wakefield ahead by one point before Wigan scored their third try to lead 11–16 going into half time, following a successful conversion by Pat Richards. Wakefield scored their only try of the second half after 51 minutes, before Wigan scored two more tries to win the game by a margin of eleven points.
Oldham also started off taking the initial lead before losing to the Gateshead Thunder. Tommy Goulden gave the visitors a lead of six points following a successful conversion, and this gave them a 4–6 lead at half time following a Gateshead try which was unsuccessfully converted. Four tries and three goals from Gateshead after the break handed them a twenty-two-point lead, and two tries and a goal from Oldham were not enough to restore the deficit. A final Gateshead try ended the game with a firm 18-point margin in favour of Gateshead.
The first game ever to be concluded via the golden point rule was played at The Jungle. Halifax earned a ten-point lead through a try and two goals, one of which a penalty. Castleford replied with a converted try, before Halifax kicked another penalty goal to lead 6–12. The home side again scored a try, which was converted, before Halifax kicked another penalty goal before half time. Halifax scored first with a try after the break, before Castleford scored another of their own. Another try for Halifax was countered with three Castleford tries, one of which was successfully converted to give them a 30–22 lead. Two converted Halifax tries put them into the lead by four points with ten minutes to play, but a try from Brent Sherwin on the 74th minute levelled the game at full-time. Sherwin also scored the drop goal three minutes into extra time to send Castleford through after an historic fixture.
Huddersfield won their early morning kick-off against Rochdale Hornets despite two late tries from the away side. Luke Robinson opened up the scoring on six minutes to score the first of five first-half tries for Huddersfield, to which Rochdale had no reply. Huddersfield scored again after 44 minutes to put themselves 32 points to nil ahead, before two converted Rochdale tries lowered the deficit to twenty points. Shaun Lunt finished the game off five minutes from full-time with a try that was successfully converted to provide himself with a hat-trick, and to give Huddersfield a comfortable win.
Like Oldham and Wakefield had done the day before, Featherstone Rovers took the initiative before losing to the opposition. Featherstone took a four-point lead thanks to a try which was unsuccessfully converted before Warrington scored twenty unanswered first-half points with four tries and two conversions. Chris Hicks converted his own try shortly after the break to put Warrington 4–26 into the lead before Featherstone replied with what was to be their final try. Warrington proceeded to run in five tries before full-time, all of which were converted by Hicks, to win the game by almost a half-century of points.