2010 Championship Cup
Introduction The '''2010 Championship Cup''' (known for commercial reasons as the Northern Rail Cup) was the 9th season of the rugby league football competition for clubs in Great Britain's Co-operative Championship and Championship One.The final was played at Bloomfield Road in Blackpool with Batley Bulldogs defeating the Widnes Vikings 25–24 to claim the trophy.
Format The format and structure of the 2010 Northern Rail Cup competition was the same as in 2009.All the English-based Co-operative Championship and Championship One clubs have been divided equally into two pools for the group stages with five teams from each division in each pool.Each team played two home games and two away games against teams in their pool with each club playing an equal number of The Co-operative Championship and The Co-operative Championship One clubs.The top four teams in each pool following the conclusion of the group stage fixtures then progressed into an open draw for the knock-out quarter-final stage.The Northern Rail Cup quarter-finals were played on the weekend of 5 and 6 June with the semi-finals taking place on 19 and 20 June.The winners of the Northern Rail Cup were eligible to apply for a Super League licence in 2011.Toulouse Olympique and newly formed South Wales Scorpions did not participate in the 2010 Northern Rail Cup.
Fixtures ===Pool 1=======Round 1==== Home Score Away Match information Date & time Referee Venue Attendance  Whitehaven 26 – 34  Batley Bulldogs 10 February, 19:30 GMT Recreation Ground (Whitehaven) 888  Widnes Vikings 50 – 6  Gateshead Thunder2 February, 15:00 GMT Stobart Stadium Halton 2,200  Blackpool Panthers 22 – 24 Keighley Cougars31 January, 15:00 GMT Woodlands Memorial Ground  Doncaster 0 – 60  Barrow Raiders17 February, 19:45 GMT Keepmoat Stadium 285  Workington Town 18 – 19  Swinton Lions17 February, 19:30 GMT Derwent Park 286====Round 2==== Home Score Away Match information Date & time Referee Venue Attendance  Barrow Raiders 34 – 8  Blackpool Panthers 7 February, 14:00 GMT Craven Park 1,474  Batley Bulldogs 30 – 30   Widnes Vikings 7 February, 14:00 GMT Mount Pleasant, Batley 1,004 Keighley Cougars 17 – 16  Whitehaven 7 February, 14:00 GMT Cougar Park 756 Gateshead Thunder 12 – 26  Workington Town 7 February, 15:00 GMT Gateshead International Stadium 404  Swinton Lions 30 – 20  Doncaster 7 February, 15:00 GMT Park Lane (stadium) 380====Round 3==== Home Score Away Match information Date & time Referee Venue Attendance  Batley Bulldogs 46 - 10  Swinton Lions 14 February, 14:00 GMT Mount Pleasant, Batley 999  Keighley Cougars 38 - 10  Workington Town 14 February, 15:00 GMT Cougar Park 654  Whitehaven 54 - 10  Doncaster 14 February, 14:00 GMT Recreation Ground (Whitehaven) 808  Widnes Vikings 22 - 20  Barrow Raiders 14 February, 15:00 GMT Stobart Stadium Halton 3,432  Blackpool Panthers 74 - 6   Gateshead Thunder 14 February, 15:00 GMT Woodlands Memorial Ground====Round 4==== Home Score Away Match information Date & time Referee Venue Attendance  Barrow Raiders 62 - 18 Keighley Cougars 10 March, 19:45 GMT Craig Halloran Craven Park 1,277  Doncaster 20 – 40  Blackpool Panthers 24 March, 19:45 GMT Tim Roby Keepmoat Stadium 198  Gateshead Thunder 4 - 100  Batley Bulldogs 17 March, 19:30 GMT Chris Leatherbarrow Gateshead International Stadium 237  Swinton Lions 12 - 36  Widnes Vikings 21 February, 15:00 GMT Warren Turley Park Lane (stadium) 816  Workington Town 22 - 14  Whitehaven 21 February, 15:00 GMT M Thomason Derwent Park 738====Pool 1 qualification table=======Pool 2=======Round 1==== Home Score Away Match information Date & time Referee Venue Attendance  Dewsbury Rams 50 - 4  London Skolars 31 January, 15:00 GMT Tetley's Stadium 887  Leigh Centurions 24 - 12  Oldham 31 January, 15:00 GMT Leigh Sports Village 1,627  Sheffield Eagles 13 - 6  Halifax 17 February, 19:45 GMT Don Valley Stadium 851  Hunslet Hawks 0 - 68  Featherstone Rovers 4 March, 20:00 GMT South Leeds Stadium  Rochdale Hornets 12 - 36  York City Knights 17 February, 20:00 GMT Spotland Stadium 362====Round 2==== Home Score Away Match information Date & time Referee Venue Attendance  Featherstone Rovers 18 - 18  Sheffield Eagles 7 February, 15:00 GMT Chris Moyles Stadium 1,175  Halifax 24 - 0  Dewsbury Rams 7 February, 15:00 GMT Shay Stadium 2,141  London Skolars 12 - 60  Hunslet Hawks 7 February, 14:00 GMT New River Stadium 328  Oldham 22 - 14  Rochdale Hornets 8 February, 20:00 GMT Boundary Park  York City Knights 13 - 12  Leigh Centurions 7 February, 15:00 GMT Huntington Stadium 911====Round 3==== Home Score Away Match information Date & time Referee Venue Attendance  Leigh Centurions 36 - 6  Featherstone Rovers 14 February, 15:00 GMT Leigh Sports Village 1,729   Sheffield Eagles 40 - 10   York City Knights 14 February, 15:00 GMT Don Valley Stadium 840  Hunslet Hawks 28 - 14  Oldham 14 February, 14:00 GMT John Charles Centre for Sport 519  London Skolars 0 - 68  Halifax 14 February, 15:00 GMT New River Stadium 416  Rochdale Hornets 12 - 48  Dewsbury Rams 14 February, 15:00 GMT Spotland Stadium 575====Round 4==== Home Score Away Match information Date & time Referee Venue Attendance  Featherstone Rovers 56 - 10  Rochdale Hornets 23 February, 20:00 GMT Craig Halloran Chris Moyles Stadium 777  Dewsbury Rams 22 - 44  Leigh Centurions 3 March, 19:45 GMT Jamie Leahy Tetley's Stadium 888  Halifax 36 - 42  Hunslet Hawks 21 March, 15:00 GMT Ronnie Laughton Shay Stadium 1,771  Oldham 22 - 24  Sheffield Eagles 21 February, 15:00 GMT Robert Hicks Boundary Park 340  York City Knights 34 - 12  London Skolars 10 March, 19:00 GMT Tim Roby Huntington Stadium 439====Pool 2 qualification table=======Finals===Sky Sports televised one Northern Rail Cup quarter-final tie live on Thursday 3 June and one of the semi-finals on Thursday 17 June as well as providing full coverage of the Northern Rail Cup final at Bloomfield Road, Blackpool, on Sunday 18 July.====Quarter-finals====The Northern Rail Cup quarter-final draw took place on Wednesday 24 March and was broadcast live on Sky Sports’ weekly Boots N' All programme.Barrow, Batley, Hunslet, Keighley, Leigh, Sheffield, Widnes & York all qualified for the quarter-final stage of the competition. The eight teams were entered into the open draw for the quarter-final knock-out stages which was played on the weekend of 5 and 6 June. Only Hunslet and York come from Co-operative Championship 1.One quarter-final tie was brought forward to Thursday 3 June to be screened live on Sky Sports.The teams lined up as per the table below: Home Score Away Match information Date & time Referee Venue Attendance  Widnes Vikings 26 – 12  Barrow Raiders 19:30, 3 June 2010 Stobart Stadium Halton 1,718  Keighley Cougars 32 – 6  York City Knights 15:00 6 June 2010 Cougar Park 712  Batley Bulldogs 26 – 16  Sheffield Eagles 15:00 6 June 2010 Mount Pleasant 708  Hunslet Hawks 6 – 42  Leigh Centurions 15:00 6 June 2010 South Leeds Stadium 770====Semi-finals====The semi-finals will take place on the weekend of 19 and 20 June with Sky Sports broadcasting one tie live on the Thursday night. Home Score Away Match information Date & time Referee Venue Attendance  Leigh Centurions 4 – 25  Batley Bulldogs 19:30, 17 June 2010 Leigh Sports Village 2,058  Keighley Cougars 18 – 48  Widnes Vikings 15:00 20 June 2010 Cougar Park 1,686====Final====The Northern Rail Cup final took place at Bloomfield Road, Blackpool on Sunday 18 July at 4pm live on Sky Sports. The Match was contested by Batley Bulldogs and defending champions Widnes Vikings, who were looking for their 3rd cup victory in just 4 years. Batley won the match, beating Widnes 25-24 thanks to two late tries from Alex Brown. This was Batley's first appearance in a cup final since 1998 and first in a major final since 1952.The victory leaves Batley eligible to apply for the 2012–14 Super League licences to gain promotion to the Super League, although coach Karl Harrison stated that they have no Super League ambitions. Home Score Away Match information Date & time Referee Venue Attendance  Batley Bulldogs 25-24  Widnes Vikings 16:00 18 July 2010 Robert Hicks Bloomfield Road, Blackpool 8,138
See also * 2010 RFL Championship* 2010 Championship 1
References