2013 Championship Cup

2013 Championship Cup
Teams22
2013 Season
 

The 2013 Championship Cup, (known for commercial reasons as the Northern Rail Cup), was the 12th and last season of the rugby league football competition for clubs in Great Britain's Championship and Championship 1.

Leigh beat Sheffield 43-28 in the final, which was played at Halifax's The Shay.

Format

For 2013, the format of the competition was changed to coincide with the expansion of the Championship from 10 to 14 teams. The competition began on 3 March with a group stage containing eight teams from the 2013 Championship 1 split into two groups. Each team played four games (two home, two away) with three of the games being played against the other teams in the group and the fourth game being played against a team from the other group.[1]

Following the completion of the group stage, the teams finishing first in each group progressed to the knock-out stages where they join the 14 teams from the Championship to make up 16 teams. There were three knock-out rounds (play-off, quarter final, semi final) before the final on 20 July 2013 at The Shay in Halifax.[2] The final took place after the inaugural Northern Rail Bowl final, involving the two highest-ranked teams from the group stages.

2013 Competition Results

Group stage

Round 1

Home Score Away Match Information
Date and Time Venue Referee Attendance
North Wales Crusaders 48 – 12 Oldham R.L.F.C. 3 March, 14:30 GMT Racecourse Ground Clint Sharrad 721
Gloucestershire All Golds 18 – 36 Hemel Stags 3 March, 15:00 GMT Prince of Wales Stadium, Cheltenham Peter Brooke 256
Rochdale Hornets 58 – 16 Gateshead Thunder 3 March, 15:00 GMT Spotland Stadium Joe Cobb 508
South Wales Scorpions 12 – 54 London Skolars 3 March, 15:00 GMT The Gnoll Tom Crashley 329
Source:[3][4]

Round 2

Home Score Away Match Information
Date and Time Venue Referee Attendance
Gateshead Thunder 4 – 30 North Wales Crusaders 10 March, 15:00 GMT MS3 Craven Park, Hull A Dave Sharpe 228
Gloucestershire All Golds 20 – 42 South Wales Scorpions 10 March, 15:00 GMT Prince of Wales Stadium, Cheltenham Clint Sharrad
London Skolars 26 – 4 Hemel Stags 10 March, 15:00 GMT New River Stadium Jamie Bloem
Oldham R.L.F.C. 26 – 10 Rochdale Hornets 10 March, 15:00 GMT Whitebank Stadium Tom Crashley 518
Source:[3][4]

Round 3

Home Score Away Match Information
Date and Time Venue Referee Attendance
North Wales Crusaders 30 – 16 Rochdale Hornets 17 March, 14:30 GMT Racecourse Ground Peter Brooke 659
Hemel Stags 20 – 22 South Wales Scorpions 17 March, 15:00 GMT Pennine Way stadium Dave Sharpe 179
London Skolars 20 – 0 Gloucestershire All Golds 17 March, 15:00 GMT New River Stadium Tom Crashley 251
Oldham R.L.F.C. 34 – 16 Gateshead Thunder 17 March, 15:00 GMT Whitebank Stadium Joe Cobb 476
Source:[3][4]

Round 4

Home Score Away Match Information
Date and Time Venue Referee Attendance
Gateshead Thunder 16 – 18 Gloucestershire All Golds 24 March, 15:00 GMT Crow Trees (Blaydon RFC)B Jamie Bloem 142
South Wales Scorpions 12 – 24 Oldham R.L.F.C. 24 March, 15:00 GMT The Gnoll Peter Brooke 280
Rochdale Hornets 40 – 16 London Skolars 1 April 15:00 BST C Spotland Stadium Joe Cobb 413
Hemel Stags 24 – 36 North Wales Crusaders 23 April 19:00 BST C Pennine Way stadium Tom Crashley 129
Source:[3][4]

Tables

2013 Northern Rail Cup: Pool A
# PLD W D L PF PA PD BP PTS
1 North Wales Crusaders 4 4 0 0 144 56 +88 0 12
2 Oldham R.L.F.C. 4 3 0 1 96 86 +10 0 9
3 Rochdale Hornets 4 2 0 2 124 88 +36 0 6
4 Gateshead Thunder 4 0 0 4 52 140 -88 1 1
2013 Northern Rail Cup: Pool B
# PLD W D L PF PA PD BP PTS
1 London Skolars 4 3 0 1 116 56 +60 0 9
2 South Wales Scorpions 4 2 0 2 88 118 -30 1 7
3 Hemel Stags 4 1 0 3 84 102 -18 2 5
4 Gloucestershire All Golds 4 1 0 3 56 114 -58 0 3
  Teams qualifying for the next round

Tables are correct as of 23 April 2013. Source: rugbyleaguechampionships.co.uk and BBC Sport.

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

Knock-out Stages

Finals Tournament Bracket

1st Knock-out Round Quarter Final Semi Final Final
            
Keighley Cougars 18
Batley Bulldogs 38
Batley Bulldogs 30
Workington Town 4
Workington Town 36
Hunslet Hawks 16
Batley Bulldogs 6
Leigh Centurions 23
Featherstone Rovers 12
Leigh Centurions 22
Leigh Centurions 34
Whitehaven 18
London Skolars 16
Whitehaven 62
Leigh Centurions 43
Sheffield Eagles 28
Swinton Lions 26
North Wales Crusaders 18
Swinton Lions 14
Doncaster 36
York City Knights 12
Doncaster 24
Doncaster 10
Sheffield Eagles 32
Sheffield Eagles 64
Barrow Raiders 10
Sheffield Eagles 26
Dewsbury Rams 16
Dewsbury Rams 20
Halifax 18

Play Off Round

Home Score Away Match Information
Date and Time Venue Referee Attendance
Dewsbury Rams 20 – 18 Halifax 16 May, 19:30 BST Tetley's Stadium George Stokes 800
London Skolars 16 – 62 Whitehaven 19 May, 14:00 BST New River Stadium Joe Cobb 276
Featherstone Rovers 12 – 22 Leigh Centurions 19 May, 15:00 BST Bigfellas Stadium Matt Thomason 1,745
Keighley Cougars 18 – 38 Batley Bulldogs 19 May, 15:00 BST Cougar Park Dave Merrick 714
Sheffield Eagles 64 – 10 Barrow Raiders 19 May, 15:00 BST Don Valley Stadium Chris Leatherbarrow 408
Swinton Lions 26 – 18 North Wales Crusaders 19 May, 15:00 BST Leigh Sports Village Jamie Leahy 544
Workington Town 36 – 16 Hunslet Hawks 19 May, 15:00 BST Derwent Park Gareth Hewer 569
York City Knights 12 – 24 Doncaster 19 May, 15:00 BST Huntington Stadium Ronnie Laughton 451
Source:[3][4]

Quarter-final

Home Score Away Match Information
Date and Time Venue Referee Attendance
Swinton Lions 14 – 36 Doncaster 13 June, 19:30 BST Leigh Sports Village Chris Leatherbarrow
Sheffield Eagles 26 – 16 Dewsbury Rams 14 June, 20:00 BST Don Valley Stadium Matt Thomason 576
Batley Bulldogs 30 – 4 Workington Town 16 June, 14:00 BST Loverugbyleague.com Stadium George Stokes 671
Leigh Centurions 34 – 18 Whitehaven 16 June, 15:00 BST Leigh Sports Village Jamie Leahy 1,320
Source:[3][4]

Semi-final

Home Score Away Match Information
Date and Time Venue Referee Attendance
Leigh Centurions 23 – 6 Batley Bulldogs 27 June, 19:30 BST Leigh Sports Village Jamie Leahy 1,807
Doncaster 10 – 32 Sheffield Eagles 28 June, 20:00 BST Doncaster Athletics Stadium Chris Leatherbarrow 611
Source:[3][4]

Finals

Home Score Away Match Information
Date and Time Venue Referee Attendance
Northern Rail Cup
Leigh Centurions 43 – 28 Sheffield Eagles 20 July, 17:00 BST The Shay, Halifax Chris Leatherbarrow 4,179
Northern Rail Bowl
North Wales Crusaders 42 – 24 London Skolars 20 July, 14:30 BST The Shay, Halifax Joe Cobb 2,000
Source:[3][4]

Notes

A.^ Game switched from Thunderdome to Craven Park due to Stan Calvert Cup match between Northumbria University and Newcastle University[5]
B.^ Game switched from Thunderdome to Blaydon RFC due to poor conditions of pitch at Gateshead[6]
C.^ Match originally postponed on 24 March due to snow

References

  1. ^ "Northern Rail Cup 2013" (PDF). RFL. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
  2. ^ "History beckons as 2013 Northern Rail Cup begins". RFL. 25 February 2013. Archived from the original on 1 June 2013. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h "Results - Championship Cup - Rugby League - BBC Sport". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h "Results". Rugby League Championship. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
  5. ^ "Gateshead Thunder to stage match at Hull KR's Craven Park". BBC Sport. 12 February 2013. Retrieved 8 March 2013.
  6. ^ "Thunder to play at Blaydon". Gateshead Thunder. 12 March 2013. Archived from the original on 20 March 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2013.