A home fifth round tie against the Sheffield Eagles awaited the winners of a Sunday evening fourth round game between the Swinton Lions and Oldham as the Championship met Championship One, two sides who have recruited well over the close season and whose sides contained vastly experienced players.

It was the League One side who were the favourites with the bookies, despite travelling to Heywood Road in Sale for the game, and it was the home side had a six-point start on the coupon.

The Sean Long factor, and his recruitment of a strong side, meant that it was his side who were expected to make progress into the fifth round.

It was Championship against League One as two more sides began their road to Wembley with Barrow Raiders taking on an Oldham side who finished the 2023 season in fourth place in League One but who have undergone a massive transformation under coach Sean Long.

Barrow were slight favourites with the bookmakers and were handicapped by two points on the coupon as they looked to secure an away game in Round Four against the victors in tomorrow afternoon’s game between Swinton Lions and West Hull.

The forecast was for a chilly but dry afternoon as the two sides took to the field at Craven Park for what promised to be an evenly matched encounter with a potential cup shock on the cards.

Championship One side Oldham Roughyeds were massive favourites to make progress into the third round of the Challenge Cup as they faced Castleford Lock Lane from the National Conference League One in the final second round tie.

As the kick-off approached the rain started to fall but with an artificial surface it wouldn´t affect the conditions underfoot but may cause more issues with ball handling, but few gave any hope for Lock Lane as they took on a side who, on paper, were far too strong for them.

The two newly promoted sides to the Betfred Championship, neither if whom having had the best of starts to their 2020 season, met at the Recreation Ground in Whitehaven for a four-pointer at the wrong end of the table as Oldham were the visitors.

Both sides have started the season with two losses but knew a win would lift them towards the middle of the early season table, a loss though would leave either side anchored to the bottom moving into round four.

A place in the Betfred Championship would be decided over eighty minutes of frenetic action at the Vestacare Stadium.

Oldham and Newcastle went into battle with the home side the favourites by virtue of their higher league place in the regular season.

Oldham were unchanged from the side which defeated Doncaster a fortnight ago.

Thunder made just one change from the side which beat Doncaster last weekend to set up todays clash with Carne Doyle-Magna named on the bench in place of Alex Rowe, who broke his arm in that semi-final.

It’s been honours shared in 2019, and there was just one point between them on the league ladder, with close encounters giving little indication of who may emerge victorious ahead of the clash.

When these two sides met in the play-offs a fortnight ago, Doncaster took the spoils with a 20-6 away win at the Newcastle Thunder.

Today the prize was much higher, a game against Oldham next weekend to determine who would be joining Whitehaven in the Betfred Championship in 2020.

Doncaster were placed behind Newcastle in the regular season, hence the need for a drive up the A1, but with games between the two sides during the regular season being close affairs, it was difficult to pick a favourite from todays clash.

Newcastle made a handful of changes, with Doncaster also making a couple of switches to their line-up.

Newcastle were slight favourites with the bookies based on home advantage but Doncaster arrived determined to book themselves a trip to Oldham next weekend.

Oldham entertained Doncaster in the first semi-final in the Betfred Championship One play-offs, the winner going forwards into the promotion Grand Final and the loser having a final bite of the cherry next week against the winners of Newcastle and Workington.

Oldham had both home advantage, and that of a week off by virtue of them finishing the regular season in second place, six points ahead of this afternoons opponents.

Doncaster came into the game on the back of an excellent performance at Newcastle last week when they overcame the odds to win todays chance.

The sides have met on three occasions in 2019 with Doncaster taking the spoils on the first two occasions, however, the last meeting was dominated by Oldham who recorded a 40-14 win.

It really was anyones game.

With Whitehaven already promoted to the Betfred Championship for 2020 it was time to find out who would be joining them to replace the relegated Rochdale and Barrow.

Fourth placed Doncaster were up against third placed Newcastle for the chance to travel to Oldham next weekend to secure a place in the League One play off final.

Both encounters between these two sides during the regular league season were close affairs with honours shared with one win apiece.

The margins were just six points and a single drop goal so there was plenty of promise of a close game.

Oldham had their eyes set on second spot as they travelled to Doncaster to take on the side sat in seventh place, who themselves needed a win to keep in touch with the sides above them.

These two sides did battle last weekend in the second round of the 1895 Cup with Doncaster progressing to the quarter finals thanks to a 24-12 victory, Oldham were now keen on revenge and the two crucial league points.

A wintry Vestacare Stadium in Oldham was the venue as high-flying Championshp one side the Roughyeds took on lowly North West Mens Premier League side Haydock in the third round of the Coral Challenge Cup.

The two sides met in the fourth round of the competition two seasons ago when the Roughyeds emerged as 40-12 winners with the odds being stacked on a similar outcome from this afternoons game.

The onus was on the visitors to overcome the elements and their lofty opponents.

Second placed Bardford Bulls needed a win to keep the pressure on the league leading York City Knights as they travelled to Vestacare Stadium to take on an Oldham side currently sitting in fifth place in the table.

The likelihood was that the Bulls would need to win the play-offs to gain promotion to the Championship and it was important that they got the win today to boost their confidence going into the end of season competition.

Oldham knew that they needed the win to enhance their play-off chances, the stage was set for a cracker.

Haydock are the first ever eighth tier side to reach the fourth round of the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup and today they visited Bower Fold in Oldham to take on Championship side Oldham Roughyeds for a place in the sixth round, and a chance of meeting a Super League side.



Oldham are currently in the bottom half of the Championship table with one win and one draw from five games this season but were odds on favourites to beat the only remaining National Conference side left in the competition, a full six divisions below them in the league structure.