Saturday was a bad day for the British Armed Forces in the first round of the Ladbroke’s Challenge Cup, with the Army, Navy and Royal Air Force all crashing out of the competition to amateur clubs.
The Army travelled to West Cumbria and provided stern opposition for Egremont Rangers before the Cumbrians triumphed 24-14. The Royal Air Force hosted York Acorn at Cranwell, but went down 12-30, while the Royal Navy came closest to making progress, going down by four points, 34-38, in Portsmouth.
The most remarkable result was at the New River Stadium in London, where the London Chargers defeated Bridgend Blue Bulls 116-0, with Chargers star Phil Lyon scoring 56 of their points, with statisticians anxiously checking whether that total is a Challenge Cup record.
Ladbrokes Challenge Cup First Round Results
Leigh Miners 12 Wigan St Patricks 16
London Chargers 116 Bridgend Blue Bulls 0
Aberdeen Warriors 8 Pilkington Recs 62
Thatto Heath 30 Skirlaugh 10
West Bowling 0 Kells 12
West Hull 24 Hull Dockers 10
Hull University 12 Rochdale Mayfield 22
Thornhill Trojans 32 Castleford Lock Lane 18
Featherstone Lions 29 Distington 28
Egremont Rangers 24 British Army 14
Fryston Warriors 33 Normanton Knights 10
Royal Air Force 12 York Acorn 30
Siddal 16 Milford Marlins 4
Royal Navy 34 Myton Warriors 38
Wath Brow Hornets 4 Haydock 17
A full roundup of all the Challenge Cup games will feature in Monday’s edition of League Express.