There will be a new name on the Betfred Women’s Challenge Cup in 2021 after York City Knights and St Helens won contrasting Semi Finals on a super Saturday at the LNER Stadium.
York were surprisingly comfortable 32-4 winners against Castleford, with Savannah Andrade scoring a stunning hat-trick, to continue their impressive form since the appointment of the former Tigers coach Lindsay Anfield.
Andrade, a recent signing from Bradford Bulls, was a constant threat at left centre, and after a close-range finish to open the scoring, she sprinted 50 metres for her second and beat several defenders in the process.
Kelsey Gentles and Rhiannion Marshall, two of the former Cas players in Anfield’s rebuilt Knights team, also touched down, with scrum half Katie Langan adding another, and Marshall kicking four goals.
The second Semi Final was much tighter, with Leeds Rhinos defending the Cup they won in 2019 with typical resilience.
St Helens dominated the first half but were made to wait before powerful tries from their centres, Carrie Roberts and Amy Hardcastle, established an 8-2 lead.
Hardcastle added a second early in the second half but even then Leeds came back with a superb individual score from Fran Goldthorp to reduce the arrears to 14-8.
Then Roberts supported a half-break from Tara Jones to claim her second try, converted by Faye Gaskin, and although Leeds responded again when Orla McCallion struggled over, Saints retained an eight-point cushion.
The 2021 Betfred Women’s Challenge Cup Final will be played on Saturday June 5 at Leigh Sports Village, the first match of a triple header also including the men’s Semi Finals – and will be shown live on BBC2 for the first time.
