Featherstone victors at Wembley in thrilling 1895 Cup final

-

BY SAM HARRIS - (@sam_harris96)

After a year hiatus due to the Covid pandemic, the 1895 Cup resumed this season and on Saturday finished with a brilliant spectacle at a sun-drenched Wembley as Featherstone Rovers saw off York City Knights.

The competition was conceived in 2018 and is played between Championship and League 1 sides, giving them a viable opportunity to reach a Wembley final with Featherstone last winning the Challenge Cup in 1983 while York had won the cup in 1931.

Ironically, both sides had submitted bids for a place in Super League for this current season after Toronto Wolfpack’s withdrawal but had been overlooked in favour of recent top-flight side Leigh Centurions.

Many people were surprised the upwardly mobile Knights were unsuccessful with the rugby potential of the city and the move into their new state of the art Community Stadium while Featherstone had lost in the Championship final to Toronto and had shown their intent with the signing of Junior Moors and Craig Kopczak.

If either of them had been successful, they would have not been eligible for the 1895 Cup and it has arguably worked better for Rovers as they sit second in the Championship while Leigh are bottom of the Super League after 13 straight defeats.

York are surprisingly struggling in the second-tier, 12th in the 14-team league but reached their first Wembley final in 90 years after beating reigning champions Sheffield Eagles, London Broncos and Swinton Lions.

The route for Rovers saw them claim victories over Bradford, Batley and Widnes as they looked for a fourth Wembley win after Challenge Cup triumphs in 1967, 1973 and 1983.

On a sunny Saturday afternoon under the arches, the game was a fitting finale despite the uncertainty over the match taking place, with Featherstone led out by assistant coach Paul March, who was given charge of the team when head coach James Webster contracted Covid.

After Fev opened the scoring early on through Dane Chisholm, the sides traded tries before a burst before half-time with March’s men crossing twice in three minutes through Jacob Doyle and Fa'amanu Brown, the latter following a superb team move.

Leading 22-10 at the break, Rovers were in control but within seven minutes of the restart York were level as Kriss Brinning crashed over despite replays showing he lost the ball in trying to scoring (replays were not used) before Jason Ball capitalised on Craig Hall spilling a kick.

However Featherstone made sure of a first victory at the new Wembley with Doyle grabbing another try, in only his second Rovers game, and James Harrison and Hall crossing.

The Knights hit back twice with Mikey Lewis and a length-of-the-field score by Perry Whiteley but Chisholm drop-goal had made sure of an historic victory for the West Yorkshire side.

In contrast to the 2019 final when Sheffield Eagles beat Widnes Vikings, the match was played as a curtain raiser to the Challenge Final between St Helens and Castleford Tigers.

The cup has been a welcome addition to the calendar, offering lower league clubs a realistic chance of silverware and a trip to Wembley and should stay for the foreseeable future.

Comments

Post a Comment

Most Read:

The Toxicity of the Match Officials Department

-
This morning, it was confirmed by the RFL that Head of Match Officials since 2016, Steve Ganson, has been suspended pending investigation. Under Ganson's tenure, James Child, Ian Smith, Matt Thomason, George Stokes, Sam Ansell, Phil Bentham, Richard Silverwood, Joe Cobb, Chris Campbell, Steve Presley and Mike Burnett have all left the RFL. Meanwhile, Robert Hicks has stepped down as a full-time referee, moving to a compliance role, Jack Smith stepped down as a full-time referee before returning and Ben Thaler was suspended and later reinstated in mysterious circumstances. Such a high turnover of staff in a department with relatively few staff should raise cause for concern. Especially when many departing staff have commented on their departures in such damning terms. Here are what some have said: James Child The most recently departed match official, James Child, has spoken to Forty-20 Magazine. " What I've always found difficult about refereeing are not the external press...
View full blog

Have London Broncos Broken IMG?

-
I am sorry but I am about to drop the C bomb. Christmas. I know, I know, it's only October but it's coming! The time of year that products are rushed out for consumers. Some of you may find a game under your Christmas tree this year. Let's take a moment to think how it got there. Before any game hits the shelves and is played by a consumer, it is extensively 'play-tested'. This means that developers play these games repeatedly, trying all sorts of different techniques, with the intention of 'breaking' the game; finding an error that renders it flawed. When they do, it is back to the drawing board, the flaw is ironed out and you play test again. A lot of work goes in to games to ensure, to the best extent possible, they are unbreakable. This is a Rugby League blog. So what does this have to do with anything? Well, the sport is set to introduce a new licensing system from 2025 and I wondered whether IMG and the RFL have done the equivalent of play-testing the ...
View full blog

Silence is the loudest noise of all

-
In August 2019, Batley Bulldogs hooker Archie Bruce made his debut for the club in an away defeat against Toulouse. He never returned home. Archie died from asphyxiation (suffocation) after a team night out.  A post-mortem report revealed Archie had consumed alcohol, cocaine and had 'toxic' levels of Tramadol (a strong painkiller) in his system at the time of his death. The levels of Tramadol (a medication only available on prescription), according to an expert at Archie's inquest, was in fact double the level considered toxic and potentially fatal. Archie's inquest was told that Batley Bulldogs players used Tramadol regularly, and illegal drugs including cocaine. One member of the Batley squad told the inquest " Everyone knows [about cocaine use in the squad], you just have to keep it under wraps" . After the inquest, Archie's family called for the RFL and its member clubs to implement a robust code of conduct to ensure a similar tragedy did not occur. Th...
View full blog