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.
2011 Competition results
Pool 1
Round 1
Home Score Away Match Information Date & Time Referee Venue Attendance Featherstone Rovers 54–10 Doncaster 4 February, 19:30 GMT Big Fellas Stadium 1,223 Toulouse Olympique 40–38 Dewsbury Rams5 February, 16:00 GMT Arnaune Stadium 800 London Skolars 18–62 Widnes Vikings6 February, 15:00 GMT New River Stadium643 Keighley Cougars 24–6 Rochdale Hornets6 February, 15:00 GMT Cougar Park 627 Barrow Raiders 24–20 York City Knights6 February, 14:00 GMT The Furness Heating Components Stadium 1,305
Round 2
Home Score Away Match Information Date & Time Referee Venue Attendance Widnes Vikings 44–28 Toulouse Olympique 12 February, 18:00 GMT Stobart Stadium Halton 2,376 Doncaster 32–4 London Skolars 13 February, 15:00 GMT Keepmoat Stadium - York City Knights 22–32 Featherstone Rovers 13 February, 15:00 GMT Huntington Stadium 1,387 Dewsbury Rams 14–0 Keighley Cougars 13 February, 15:00 GMT Tetley's Stadium 758 Rochdale Hornets 18–30 Barrow Raiders 13 February, 15:00 GMT Spotland Stadium -
Round 3
Home Score Away Match Information Date & Time Referee Venue Attendance Keighley Cougars 22–36 Toulouse Olympique 19 February, 18:00 GMT Cougar Park 513 London Skolars 16–16 York City Knights 20 February, 15:00 GMT New River Stadium 264 Doncaster 18–30 Dewsbury Rams 20 February, 15:00 GMT Keepmoat Stadium 555 Widnes Vikings 50–10 Rochdale Hornets 20 February, 15:00 GMT Stobart Stadium Halton 3,155 Barrow Raiders 22–28 Featherstone Rovers 20 February, 14:00 GMT The Furness Heating Components Stadium1,852
Round 4
Home Score Away Match Information Date & Time Referee Venue Attendance Toulouse Olympique 34–22 London Skolars 26 February, 15:00 GMT Arnaune Stadium 998 Featherstone Rovers 16–22 Widnes Vikings 26 February, 18:00 GMT Big Fellas Stadium 1,719 Rochdale Hornets 36–40 Doncaster 27 February, 15:00 GMT Spotland Stadium 442 York City Knights 28–22 Keighley Cougars 27 February, 15:00 GMT Huntington Stadium 748 Dewsbury Rams 16–12 Barrow Raiders 27 February, 15:00 GMT Tetley's Stadium 911
Pool 1 Qualification Table
2011 Northern Rail Cup: Pool 1 1 Widnes Vikings 4 4 0 0 178 72 +106 0 12 2 Featherstone Rovers 4 3 0 1 130 76 +54 1 10 3 Dewsbury Rams 4 3 0 1 98 70 +28 1 10 4 Toulouse Olympique 4 3 0 1 138 126 +12 0 9 5 Barrow Raiders 4 2 0 2 88 82 +6 2 8 6 York City Knights 4 1 1 2 86 94 −8 2 7 7 Doncaster 4 2 0 2 100 124 -24 1 7 8 Keighley Cougars 4 1 0 3 68 84 −16 1 4 9 London Skolars 4 0 1 3 60 144 −84 1 3 10 Rochdale Hornets 4 0 0 4 70 144 −74 2 2
Teams qualifying for the next round
Source: Northern Rail Cup Table – The RFL
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
Home Score Away Match Information Date & Time Referee Venue Attendance Swinton Lions 22–28 Halifax 4 February, 20:00 GMT The Willows 1,000 Oldham 28–22 Hunslet Hawks 6 February, 15:00 GMT Whitebank Stadium 685 Gateshead Thunder 20–32 Sheffield Eagles 6 February, 15:00 GMT Gateshead International Stadium 444 Batley Bulldogs 4–24 Leigh Centurions 6 February, 14:00 GMT Mount Pleasant1,072 Whitehaven 18–28 Workington Town 8 February, 19:30 GMT Recreation Ground 1,005
Round 2
Home Score Away Match Information Date & Time Referee Venue Attendance Workington Town 82–0 Gateshead Thunder 13 February, 15:00 GMT Derwent Park 381 Sheffield Eagles 16–16 Whitehaven 13 February, 15:00 GMT Bramall Lane 727 Leigh Centurions 42–22 Swinton Lions 13 February, 15:00 GMT Leigh Sports Village 1,623 Halifax 50–10 Oldham 13 February, 15:00 GMT The Shay2,027 Hunslet Hawks 8–12 Batley Bulldogs 13 February, 15:00 GMT South Leeds Stadium 666
Round 3
Home Score Away Match Information Date & Time Referee Venue Attendance Swinton Lions 29–20 Oldham R.L.F.C. 20 February, 15:00 GMT The Willows 776 Leigh Centurions 68–6 Sheffield Eagles 20 February, 15:00 GMT Leigh Sports Village 1,520 Hunslet Hawks 30–0 Workington Town 20 February, 15:00 GMT South Leeds Stadium 379 Batley Bulldogs 60–6 Gateshead Thunder 20 February, 14:00 GMT Mount Pleasant Stadium 612 Whitehaven 6–60 Halifax 16 March, 19:30 GMT Recreation Ground 771
Round 4
Home Score Away Match Information Date & Time Referee Venue Attendance Workington Town 12–42 Leigh Centurions 27 February, 15:00 GMT Derwent Park 592 Oldham R.L.F.C. 4–14 Whitehaven 27 February, 15:00 GMT Whitebank Stadium 544 Gateshead Thunder 4–76 Swinton Lions 27 February, 15:00 GMT Gateshead International Stadium 323 Sheffield Eagles 12–16 Hunslet Hawks 27 February, 15:00 GMT Bramall Lane 854 Halifax 25–26 Batley Bulldogs 27 February, 15:00 GMT The Shay 1,968
Pool 2 Qualification Table
2011 Northern Rail Cup: Pool 2 1 Leigh Centurions 4 4 0 0 176 44 +132 0 12 2 Halifax 4 3 0 1 163 64 +99 1 10 3 Batley Bulldogs 4 3 0 1 102 63 +39 0 9 4 Hunslet Hawks 4 2 0 2 76 52 24 2 8 5 Swinton Lions 4 2 0 2 149 94 +55 1 7 6 Workington Town 4 2 0 2 122 90 +32 0 6 7 Sheffield Eagles 4 1 1 2 66 120 -54 1 6 8 Whitehaven 4 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 Thunder 4 0 0 4 30 250 −220 1 1
Teams qualifying for the next round
Source: Northern Rail Cup Table – The RFL
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
Finals Tournament Bracket
Quarter-finals
Home Score Away Match Information Date & Time Referee Venue Attendance Leigh Centurions 50–18 Widnes Vikings 19:30, 7 April 2011 Leigh Sports Village 2,737 Hunslet Hawks 12–50 Featherstone Rovers 20:00 8 April 2011 South Leeds Stadium 877 Toulouse Olympique 26–36 Halifax RLFC 19:00 9 April 2011 Stade de Minimes 850 Dewsbury Rams 38–22 Batley Bulldogs 15:00 10 April 2011 Tetley's Stadium 1,643
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.
Home Score Away Match Information Date & Time Referee Venue Attendance Featherstone Rovers 30–31 Halifax RLFC Thursday 16 June 2011, 19:30 KO Gareth Hewer Big Fellas Stadium 1,987 Leigh Centurions 44–10 Dewsbury Rams Sunday 19 June 2011, 15:00 KO Matt Thompson Leigh Sports Village 2,234
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.
Home Score Away Match Information Date & Time Referee Venue Attendance Halifax RLFC 16–20 Leigh Centurions Sunday, 17 July 2011, 17:00 KO Matt Thomason Bloomfield Road, Blackpool 8,522
References
External links https://web.archive.org/web/20080831022046/http://www.therfl.co.uk/index.php http://www.northernrail.org/northernrailcup