The Play-offs Part 3 - Championship Shield Semi Finals

The Play-offs Part 3 - Championship Shield Semi Finals

In what most would probably consider to be the consolation ‘Super 8’s’, for want of a better phrase, the Championship Shield rounds culminated last weekend with Dewsbury securing fourth place with a victory over Oldham Roughyeds.  That result means they have the pleasure of travelling to Odsal on Sunday to take on Shield leaders Bradford Bulls for a place in next weekend’s Final.

The other Semi Final will be contested by runners-up Halifax and third placed Sheffield, two of the sides that played in the Qualifiers last season with outside hopes of claiming an spot in Super League for this season.

Leigh Sports Village has been chosen as the venue for next weekend’s Final where the two respective winners will face off for the chance to lift the Shield.

CHAMPIONSHIP SHEILD SEMI FINAL – HALIFAX RLFC vs SHEFFIELD EAGLES

(The Shay, Sunday, 25 September – 15:00pm)

Halifax RLFC

Halifax enter these Semi Finals on the back of an upturn in fortunes and Richard Marshall’s men will be keenly awaiting this weekend’s game knowing they have a real shot at making it to next weekend’s Championship Shield Final.

Having been rightly proud of the way they performed in last season’s Championship to finish fourth and then to end up finishing in sixth place, two points off the Million Pound game, they will have been disappointed to not find themselves in the Qualifiers again this time around, losing out to one of Batley Bulldogs, London Broncos and Featherstone Rovers.

That disappointment seeped into their early Shield campaign and they lost the first three games of the competition.  However, they’ve managed to pull themselves together for three of the remaining four fixtures (the only slip being a narrow defeat to Swinton in Round 6) to finish second and the prospect of a home Semi Final against Sheffield Eagles – a game where they will want revenge for the 20-point defeat suffered in Round 1 to the South Yorkshire side.

CHAMPIONSHIP SHIELD RESULTS:

Round 1 – Halifax RLFC 28-48 Sheffield Eagles

Round 2 – Bradford Bulls 44-22 Halifax RLFC

Round 3 – Halifax RLFC 22-24 Dewsbury Rams

Round 4 – Whitehaven 10-30 Halifax RLFC

Round 5 – Halifax RLFC 32-18 Oldham Roughyeds

Round 6 – Swinton Lions 28-26 Halifax RLFC

Round 7 – Halifax RLFC 46-26 Workington Town

Sheffield Eagles

It’s been a difficult season for Sheffield after a fantastic Championship campaign which enabled them to make the move towards becoming a full time club.  However, at the time of the split the Eagles were potentially flirting with relegation being just three points above the drop zone with seven games to go.

But a fantastic Shield series consisting of four victories, including an impressive 20 point victory over their Semi Final opponents, Halifax, and a 62-0 drubbing of Workington, helped Mark Aston’s side rise up to third in the table and a place in the Shield Play-offs.

This match could be a game too far for Sheffield and it will be a difficult task picking themselves up after two successive defeats and such a heavy defeat to Bradford Bulls in the final round of fixtures but they take heart knowing that have won at Halifax already.

CHAMPIONSHIP SHIELD RESULTS:

Round 1 – Halifax RLFC 28-48 Sheffield Eagles

Round 2 – Sheffield Eagles 48-16 Whitehaven

Round 3 – Sheffield Eagles 38-40 Swinton Lions

Round 4 – Oldham Roughyeds 24-54 Sheffield Eagles

Round 5 – Sheffield Eagles 62-0 Workington Town

Round 6 – Sheffield Eagles 22-38 Dewsbury Rams

Round 7 – Bradford Bulls 80-0 Sheffield Eagles

MY PREDICTION – Halifax to win by 6+ points

CHAMPIONSHIP SHEILD SEMI FINAL – BRADFORD BULLS vs DEWSBURY RAMS

(Odsal Stadium, Sunday, 25 September – 15:00pm)

Bradford Bulls

The Bulls were tipped to be one of the clubs fighting for a place back in the Super League again at the start of this season following defeat at the final hurdle last year in the Million Pound game to Wakefield.  So it was major shock to me and many other rugby fans that they finished fifth in the regular season Championship table and missed out on the Qualifiers by two points

It was a 20-0 defeat to Featherstone Rovers in the final round of matches that sealed their fate, and saw Featherstone claim fourth place, but a fantastic run of Shield results should have healed any remaining bruised egos.  A narrow defeat away at already relegated Workington in Round 6 meant they missed out on a 100% record from their seven Shield matches.

Victories over both Oldham and Sheffield by 80 or more points confirmed their superiority in this level of competition and Rohan Smith’s side should be more than capable of winning the final piece of silverware available to them.

CHAMPIONSHIP SHIELD RESULTS:

Round 1 – Whitehaven 18-46 Bradford Bulls

Round 2 – Bradford Bulls 44-22 Halifax RLFC

Round 3 – Bradford Bulls 83-0 Oldham Roughyeds

Round 4 – Dewsbury Rams 26-36 Bradford Bulls

Round 5 – Bradford Bulls 36-28 Swinton Lions

Round 6 – Workington Town 30-26 Bradford Bulls

Round 7 – Bradford Bulls 80-0 Sheffield Eagles

Dewsbury Rams

Dewsbury only secured their place in the Shield Semi Finals after victory in the final round of matches, a series of results which saw them claim four wins and three defeats.

Interestingly, Glenn Morrison’s side were the only team of the four semi finalists to lose both games to the two relegated Cumbrian clubs – 34-24 away to Workington in Round 2 and a hefty 56-12 home defeat by Whitehaven in Round 5.

However, they did manage to claim a narrow two point victory over Halifax in Round 3 and an impressive 16 point win at Sheffield in Round 6, which would give them plenty of hope that they could finish the job if they were to progress past Bradford this weekend.

And, despite two home defeats to Bradford throughout this season, they did manage a narrow 14-16 win at Odsal back in June.

CHAMPIONSHIP SHIELD RESULTS:

Round 1 – Dewsbury Rams 36-24 Swinton Lions

Round 2 – Workington Town 34-24 Dewsbury Rams

Round 3 – Halifax RLFC 22-24 Dewsbury Rams

Round 4 – Dewsbury Rams 26-36 Bradford Bulls

Round 5 – Dewsbury Rams 12-56 Whitehaven

Round 6 – Sheffield Eagles 22-38 Dewsbury Rams

Round 7 – Dewsbury Rams 30-12 Oldham Roughyeds

MY PREDICTION – Bradford to win by 6+ points