Featherstone Rovers v York Knights - AB Sundecks 1895 Cup Final: Match Preview

sharonshortle
Jun 4
2 min read

🤝 York RLFC Match Previews are proudly sponsored by David Lloyd York!

York Knights are at Wembley Stadium for the third time in their history on Saturday, to take on Featherstone Rovers in the AB Sundecks 1895 Cup Final (5.45pm)!

It’s a repeat of the 2021 final, which Featherstone won 41-34 in a game which almost didn’t happen because of covid restrictions at the time. Both squads lost a number of players for the day because of the virus.

The only other time York have appeared at Wembley was in 1931 in the Challenge Cup final, when they were beaten 22-8 by Halifax.

If the Knights win at the weekend, it will be their first ever victory at the national stadium.

York earned their place at Wembley with a 28-20 win over Bradford Bulls at the LNER Community Stadium, in a game which is part of a five match unbeaten run.

The last game York lost was on Good Friday, when they were narrowly beaten 22-24 by Featherstone, when Knights coach, Mark Applegarth came up against his former assistant, Paul Cooke, who is now in charge at Rovers.

Since then, Rovers have won four of their five games, with their only defeat being an 18-10 loss to Toulouse Olympique. They beat Oldham 40-14 in their semi-final to reach their third AB Sundecks 1895 Cup final.

Other than the win over York in 2021, they also reached the final in 2022, when they lost 30-16 to Leigh Centurions at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

There are a number of players in both squads who have previously featured in this competition at Wembley. For York, Jack Teanby and Ben Jones-Bishop both featured in 2021, which Kieran Buchanan was part of the Batley Bulldogs squad that lost to Halifax Panthers in 2023, and Mitch Clark played for Sheffield Eagles last year in the defeat by Wakefield Trinity.

For Rovers, Caleb Aekins, Gareth Gale and Josh Hardcastle all played in 2021, as did Will Jubb who was in York colours. Jayden Hatten played in 2019 for Widnes Vikings when they lost to Sheffield, while Ben Reynolds was part of the victorious Leigh team in 2022.

The Knights expect to have a near full strength squad for the match, however Ben Jones-Bishop will be cup tied and unavailable.

Tickets are still available for York Knights AB Sundecks 1895 Cup Final against Featherstone Rovers on Saturday 7th June (5.45pm)!

The game is being played as part of a triple header, with the Betfred Women’s Challenge Cup and Befred Challenge Cup also taking place on the same day.

Ticket prices include all three games.

York Knights fans will be seated in the East Stand and you can buy your tickets through the RL Commercial’s central ticket platform, Tickets.com, HERE.