Castleford Tigers miss out on Challenge Cup glory after losing to St Helens

St Helens' Lachlan Coote (left) tackles Castleford Tigers' Niall Evans during the match Credit: Press Association

Castleford's wait for their next rugby league Challenge Cup victory goes on after they were beaten 26-12 by St Helens at Wembley this afternoon.

The Tigers raised hopes of their first Challenge Cup victory since 1986 when first Niall Evalds went over for a try. Before Jacob Trueman latched on to a high kick to put Daryl Powell's team in front for the first time. But St Helens showed their class - running in four tries in all. 

Castleford have only won the Challenge Cup on four previous occasions, the first in 1935 and most recently in 1986.

Featherstone Rovers' Luke Cooper holds the trophy and celebrates with team-mates after the 1895 Cup win Credit: Press Association

Featherstone Rovers have beaten the York City Knights 41-36 to win the 1895 Cup Final on a blisteringly hot afternoon at Wembley.

A wonderful game of rugby league ebbed and flowed with both teams contributing to a match that proved a wonderful advert for the sport.

Featherstone led 22-10 at half time, but after the break York scored two quick tries to bring the scores level. That proved a wake-up call for Featherstone, who soon re-established their lead - running in three successive tries.

York though proved worthy finalists and had the last word when Perry Whiteley's lung bursting length of the field try gave the scoreline more than a modicum of respectability. 

Around 45,000 rugby league fans are at Wembley today - the biggest crowd at a rugby league event since the Super League Grand Final in 2019.

The majority have travelled down from Yorkshire, with three of the four teams competing at the Challenge Cup final and 1895 Cup final hailing from the broad acres.

  • Chris Dawkes caught up with the Tigers as they prepared for today's match.

Castleford fan Nick Kennedy has cycled all 216 miles from Castleford's Wheldon Road stadium to Wembley to raise money for Physical Disability rugby league. Nick is the captain of the Castleford Tigers PDRL team.

For more information on Nick's fundraising challenge click here

The last time York were at Wembley was in 1931, when they lost to Halifax in the Challenge Cup final. It's 38 years since Featherstone were winning the Challenge Cup at Wembley, beating Hull FC 14-12.

However the game itself was only given the green light to go ahead this morning. Both teams had reported positive COVID tests in the past 48 hours which has meant that a number of players and Featherstone head coach James Webster have had to self isolate and will miss the match.