There was a real chance of a cup upset as Rochdale Mayfield from the Premier division of the National League made the six and a half hour journey to Cornwall to take on the Betfred League One side who managed just one win in their league competition last season.

It was Cornwall´s first time in the competition after they failed to enter last season, Rochdale Mayfield were looking to emulate their performances from last season when they eventually lost to Doncaster in the third round after beating Wigan St Pats and West Hull.

National Conference League amateurs Castleford Lock Lane entertained the League 1 professionals of Rochdale Hornets in a Betfred  Challenge Cup third round tie hoping for a repeat of their second round  upset when the unceremoniously booted another Leaguel 1 side - Oldham - out of the competition.

Up for grabs was a home game in the fourth round against Championship side Barrow Raiders.

Round two of the Challenge Cup pitted Championship One side Rochdale Hornets against the newly christened Midlands Hurricanes with a game from Spotland.

The home side were without their stars Rangi Chase and Fui Fui MoiMoi but did have seasoned professional Sean Penkywicz amongst their ranks.

The sides finished seventh and eighth in Championship One last season just missing out on the play-offs.

Two weeks into the new year and the Betfred Challenge Cup competition for 2022 was already well underway as two towns synonymous with Rugby League Rochdale and Wigan, saw lower league sides Rochdale Mayfield and Wigan St Patricks set out on the long path to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and this year’s Cup Final.

Rochdale ply their trade in the top flight of the National Conference League while St Patricks are a division below but it was the visitors who went into the game coached by a man with a massive Challenge Cup pedigree, Andy Gregory.

For the Leigh Centurions, this afternoons encounter with already relegated Rochdale Hornets was all about registering a big score to improve their points difference in the hope of securing a home play-off game in the Qualifying Final at the end of the season.

As well as confirming their place in the play-offs, a win would lift the Leigh side up to third, above a Yorks City Knights side which took a hammering against the Toronto Wolfpack last night, and level on points with Toulouse Olympique XIII.

The best that Rochdale could achieve is eleventh, still a relegation place, and that would take a miracle after they have only recorded one victory in 2019.

Crusader Park in St Helens was all set for a titanic Saturday afternoon battle between two National Conference League Premier Division sides as the Thatto Heath Crusaders welcomed Rochdale Mayfield for a third round Challenge Cup match.

Rochdale made the thirty-five mile journey down the M62 looking to build on their opening league fixture win over Underbank Rangers but they faced a Thatto Heath side who also recorded a win last weekend away at Egremont Rangers.

A place in the Fourth Round was on offer, and the chance of playing against a one of twelve Championship clubs who will join at the next round stage.

It was one of the biggest afternoons in the history of National Conference side the Normanton Knights as they decamped from their home at Queen Elizabeth Drive to the much larger LD Nutrition Stadium in Featherstone to take on Championship side the Rochdale Hornets in the fourth round of the Challenge Cup.

Twenty places and two divisions separated the two sides and unsurprisingly the Hornets were the red hot favourites to progress into the fifth round and the inclusion of four of the sides from the top flight.

It was a freezing afternoon with a snow storm blowing in just before kick-off.

The first round of the Ladbrokes Challenge Cup threw together National League Premier Division side Rochdale Mayfield, against a Crosfields side from Warrington who play their rugby in National League Conference Division Two for the live streamed game on the BBC website.

Forty-eight amateur sides were included in the first round, to be joined later in the competition by Championship and Super League teams.

Being played for the 115th time, the first being in 1896, the BBC have the screening rights and will be live streaming a game in each round up to and including the fifth round of the competition.

From the sixth round onwards coverage will switch to BBC1 and BBC2 right through to the final at Wembley on the 25th August.