A REAL ‘David and Goliath’ clash is in prospect on Sunday, when the BARLA National Cup final takes place at Featherstone Rovers. 

Orrell St James, who were last year’s runners-up and who are the reigning North West Men’s League champions, will face Brighouse Rangers, who finished mid-table in the Yorkshire Men’s League First Division.

Brighouse, however, have arguably as strong a pedigree as any club in the grassroots game, having been one of the 22 clubs who broke away from the Rugby Football Union in 1895 to form the Northern Union (the precursor to the Rugby Football League).

Rangers chairman Clarke Bailey told League Express: “It’s a fantastic achievement to reach the National Cup final. We have a proud history, as founder members of our sport and having won the Yorkshire Cup in the same year. 

“Move forward to 2025 and our club is at the heart of our community with a thriving junior section and an enthusiastic open-age group of players, 95 percent of whom have come through our juniors.

“It’s a true testimony to those players that we have overcome the likes of West Hull, Kippax and Sharlston to reach the final, even though we have no illusions of the task that awaits us against Orrell St James.”

He concluded: “The biggest joy at Sharlston was to see our former groundsman, player and coach Jeff Greenwood (83) who reformed Brighouse back in the 1970s, with a smile on his face and tears in his eyes. Brighouse Rangers is a true family club.”

Adam Hirst coaches Brighouse alongside Rob Butterworth, and revealed: “We took over Rangers’ Pennine League side last winter and have stayed at the helm this summer.

“We finished in mid-table this season, which was frustrating as if we’d been able to field a full-strength team throughout the campaign, we’d have won the league by a country mile.

“This is without doubt the biggest game yet in the club’s history even though we go back a long way, as founder members.”

He admitted: “We’ve even surprised ourselves by reaching the final. I had a chat with Clarke Bailey when we were appointed as coaches, when we speculated about entering the Yorkshire Cup.

“We agreed that at that stage we weren’t quite ready for that competition but I then mentioned the National Cup, which was obviously further down the line.

“We decided to go for it and it’s a decision we haven’t regretted for a single moment. The club is buzzing, we’re fetching plenty of supporters with is and the junior section is really excited.”

Hirst, 34, has only recently retired from playing, having enjoyed his Rugby League from the age of six with Brighouse and such as Wibsey, Bradford Dudley Hill (in the National Conference League) and Victoria Rangers.

He reflected: “It’s been a testing National Cup route to Featherstone. Our first tie was against West Hull and although we didn’t meet their first team, they had a very strong side out.

“Then we travelled to Kippax, which is a tough place to go, and we came up with the goods again.

“Following that we were drawn at Sharlston Rovers in the semi-final and against a club with plenty of cup success behind them were boosted by two early tries, and then saw through the arm-wrestle against a big side.

“Orrell will obviously be massive favourites on Sunday. They were runners-up last year and are the reigning North West Men’s League champions.

“On the day, though, we can beat anyone, and we’ve certainly got a strong enough 17 to do that. It’s Orrell who have everything to lose, while our lads will be more at ease.

“We’re looking forward to a real war of the roses clash while, for the longer-term future, our club is ambitious and looking to improve.

“We will be recruiting at open-age level before next season with the aim of regaining our Premier Division status and improving on two or three years ago, when we lost a Premier Division semi-final. We have solid foundations and we’re heading in the right direction.”

Orrell’s long-serving coach Sean McHugh, who works well with Chris Dean, who is back at his roots after a glittering professional career, confesses that defeat at the hands of Thatto Heath in the 2024 final has made his club hungrier.

“Yes, I think so,” he said. “Last year, we were underprepared, and we maybe got a lot more than we deserved from the game. But we’re now in the mood, and in the frame of mind to go one better. 

“There was evidence of that in our semi-final, at holders Thatto. The Crusaders had a strong team out against us, essentially the side that took them to fifth in the National Conference League Premier Division.

“When I saw their teamsheet I didn’t expect things to go well for us to be honest, but our lads were outstanding, got us 14-0 up at the break and saw us through to a 30-0 win.

“I understand that Thatto hadn’t been nilled, on their own ground at least, for 15 years, so it was a phenomenal victory, especially on a big pitch that suits the Crusaders’ attacking style.

“Thatto had also beat us 28-24 in the Challenge Cup earlier this year, and I think perhaps they underestimated us, given that we’re not in the NCL. 

“We fit all the criteria for the NCL, from the ground to the number of teams, including at youth and junior level, but we’ve never applied because of the travel costs involved, plus potential pressure on our players, for example a few work at Heinz, which is a big local employer, and would struggle to reconcile work and playing commitments.

“However we’ve proved, on our route to the final, that we can match clubs in the Conference, having won at Featherstone Lions and Thatto, while we accounted for Wath Brow Hornets in the quarter-finals.”

Now targeting the National Cup again, McHugh continued: “Our squad is a little bit different this year, for example we have Sam Lewis back from Australia.

“More importantly, the players pledged at a pre-season meeting to be even more committed, for example that they’d knock such as stag dos on the head.

“Also crucially, all our players are local lads, which is very important. They’ve either come through Orrell’s junior system or from nearby St Peter’s school. That means that they’re playing alongside their best mates, and that means so much when a team’s under pressure.

“I’m delighted we’re having the success we’re having, with the North West Men’s championship, cup and play-off trophies already in the bag, which is unprecedented for us. 

“But I’d be just as happy to be in Division One if all our lads were local – it’s that important, especially to me as I’m an Orrell and St Peter’s bloke myself.”

On prospects at Featherstone, McHugh stated: “I don’t know anything about Brighouse as they’re in a different competition.

“I realise, though, that we’re strong favourites, but we certainly won’t underestimate them. For me, the National Cup final is the big event and although we’ve been unbeaten in North West Men’s competitions, the job’s not done unless we also win the National Cup for the first time. 

“We’ll focus totally on ourselves, and on our own performance. Our philosophy is that we’re always humble and respectful. That’s been our approach this season, as previously.

“We’ve been hot favourites in probably every league game but we’ve never taken anything for granted. For example we beat Blackbrook, who are a club back on the rise, 52-0 but we didn’t assume by any means that when we met them again we’d have a similar scoreline, and we didn’t.

“We’ll continue that way. Fifteen years ago we didn’t have an open-age team, but we’ve built.

“We’re a community club and we no longer bring in lads from outside. With that partly in mind we train alongside our under 18s, and sometimes under 16s, on Thursdays to help ensure a seamless progression, and that will be reflected in the team we put out on Sunday.”

Dave Clark, of the Barrow Society, has been appointed as referee. His touchjudges are Josh Kinsley and Josh Egan, both of the Hull Society, while Hull’s Lenny Lockton is the reserve referee. 

The game, at the Millennium Stadium, Featherstone, will take place on Sunday (November 2), with a 2.00pm kick-off.

Admission (cash only) is £5 (£3 concessions, under 16s free).

ROUTES TO THE FINAL
Brighouse Rangers
Round one: bye
Round two: West Hull 28-16 (home)
Quarter-final: Kippax 24-10 (away)
Semi-final: Sharlston Rovers 24-18 (away)
Orrell St James
Round one: Featherstone Lions 24-16 (away)
Round two: Westhoughton 44-6 (away)
Quarter-final: Wath Brow Hornets 34-24 home)
Semi-final: Thatto Heath Crusaders 30-0 (away)