2013 National League Cup

2013 National League Cup
League Championship Cup
Number of teams 22
2013 Season
< 2012 Seasons 2014 >

The 2013 Championship Cup, named the 2013 Northern Rail Cup due to sponsorship from Northern Rail, is a rugby league football competition for clubs in Great Britain's Championship and Championship 1. The 2013 competition is the 12th time that it is held. In 2012, Halifax RLFC won the competition, beating Featherstone Rovers 21-12 in the final.

Format

For 2013, the format of the competition was changed to coincide with the expansion of the RFL Championship from 10 to 14 teams. The competition begins on 3 March with a group stage containing eight teams from the 2013 Championship 1 split into two group. Each team will play 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 progress to the knock-out stages where they join the 14 teams from the Championship to make up 16 teams. There will be 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 will take 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 Roughyeds 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 Knoll 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 Roughyeds 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 Roughyeds 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 Roughyeds 24 March, 15:00 GMT The Knoll 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 Roughyeds 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 RLFC 18
      London Skolars 16
      Whitehaven RLFC 62
      Leigh Centurions 43
      Sheffield Eagles 28
      Swinton Lions 26
      North Wales Crusaders 18
      Swinton Lions 14
      Doncaster RLFC 36
      York City Knights 12
      Doncaster RLFC 24
      Doncaster RLFC 10
      Sheffield Eagles 32
      Sheffield Eagles 64
      Barrow Raiders 10
      Sheffield Eagles 26
      Dewsbury Rams 16
      Dewsbury Rams 20
      Halifax RLFC 18

      Play Off Round

      Home Score Away Match Information
      Date and Time Venue Referee Attendance
      Dewsbury Rams 20 18 Halifax RLFC 16 May, 19:30 BST Tetley's Stadium George Stokes 800
      London Skolars 16 62 Whitehaven RLFC 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 RLFC 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 RLFC 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 RLFC 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 RLFC 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. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
      2. "History beckons as 2013 Northern Rail Cup begins". RFL. 25 February 2013. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
      3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 "Results - Championship Cup - Rugby League - BBC Sport". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 March 2013.
      4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 "Results". Rugby League Championship. 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. Retrieved 24 March 2013.

      External links