2003 Challenge Cup

The 2003 Challenge Cup was sponsored by Powergen and was held during the 2002–03 season. The final was held on Saturday 26 April 2003, at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, UK. The game was won by Bradford Bulls who defeated Leeds Rhinos.

2003 Powergen Challenge Cup

Duration	9 Rounds
Highest attendance	71,212
Broadcast partners	BBC Sport
Winners	Bradford Bulls
Runners-up	Leeds Rhinos
Lance Todd Trophy	Gary Connolly

First round

Date	Team one	Team two	Score
30 Nov	Askam	Ideal Isberg	2-12
30 Nov	Bradford Dudley	Syngenta	12-4
30 Nov	British Army	Hunslet Warriors	10-22
30 Nov	Castleford Panthers	Walney	4-11
30 Nov	Cott. Phoenix	Navy	34-2
30 Nov	Dublin Exiles	Birkenshaw	0-56
30 Nov	East Hull	Normanton	36-4
30 Nov	Eastmoor	Wigan St Judes	18-26
30 Nov	Edinburgh	Oulton	8-26
30 Nov	Elland	Sharlston Rovers	12-8
30 Nov	Featherstone Lions	Ince Rose Bridge	16-8
30 Nov	Hensingham	Simms Cross	4-9
30 Nov	Heworth	Thornhill	4-24
30 Nov	Leigh East	Eccles	46-4
30 Nov	Leigh Miners R.	West Hull	20-6
30 Nov	Milford	Widnes St Maries	16-8
30 Nov	Millom	Embassy	20-26
30 Nov	Redhill	York Acorn	24-12
30 Nov	RAF	Crosfields	2-5
30 Nov	Sheffield Hills	Skirlaugh	8-24
30 Nov	Siddal	Leeds Met University	78-0
30 Nov	Thatto Heath	Cas. Lock Lane	12-19
30 Nov	Waterhead	Hull Dockers	16-12
30 Nov	Wath Brow Hornets	East Leeds	12-0
30 Nov	West Bowling	Rochdale Mayfield	28-0
30 Nov	Wigan St Pats	Oldham St Annes	17-20
30 Nov	Woolston	Saddleworth	20-10
30 Nov	Shaw Cross	Cardiff Demons	56-12

Second round

Date	Team one	Team two	Score
14 Dec	Birkenshaw	West Bowling	0-14
14 Dec	Cas. Lock Lane	Thornhill	8-18
14 Dec	Cott. Phoenix	Bradford Dudley	17-4
14 Dec	East Hull	Coventry Bears	48-8
14 Dec	Elland	Redhill	4-13
14 Dec	Featherstone Lions	Oldham St Annes	10-12
14 Dec	Hunslet Warriors	Woolston	18-30
14 Dec	Leigh East	Skirlaugh	20-28
14 Dec	Leigh Miners R.	Crosfields	68-8
14 Dec	Siddal	Ideal Isberg	14-0
14 Dec	Walney	Simms Cross	2-12
14 Dec	Waterhead	Shaw Cross	4-18
14 Dec	Wath Brow Hornets	Milford	66-6
14 Dec	Wigan St Judes	Oulton	16-24
15 Dec	Embassy	Strela Kazan	20-16

Third round

Date	Team one	Team two	Score
24 Jan	Chorley Lynx	Leigh Miners R.	36-14
24 Jan	Oulton	Sheffield Eagles	8-22
24 Jan	Wath Brow Hornets	Workington Town	13-12
25 Jan	Leigh	Locomotiv	62-0
26 Jan	Barrow	Embassy	70-6
26 Jan	Doncaster	Redhill	64-2
26 Jan	Featherstone Rovers	Villeneuve	26-22
26 Jan	Gateshead	UTC	4-38
26 Jan	Hull Kingston Rovers	Siddal	28-0
26 Jan	Hunslet Hawks	Pia	28-18
26 Jan	Keighley	Thornhill	33-10
26 Jan	Oldham St Annes	Rochdale Hornets	18-62
26 Jan	Oldham	East Hull	32-6
26 Jan	Salford City	Toulouse	26-10
26 Jan	Simms Cross	London Skolars	15-8
26 Jan	Skirlaugh	York City Knights	8-20
26 Jan	Swinton	Shaw Cross	46-0
26 Jan	West Bowling	Batley	12-34
26 Jan	Whitehaven	Cott. Phoenix	66-6
26 Jan	Woolston	Dewsbury	12-34

Fourth round

Date	Team one	Team two	Score
8 Feb	UTC	St Helens	6-70
8 Feb	Wakefield Trinity	Castleford Tigers	20-18
8 Feb	Warrington	Bradford	12-38
8 Feb	Wath Brow Hornets	Batley	6-18
9 Feb	Barrow	Salford City	6-22
9 Feb	Featherstone Rovers	Leigh	28-22
9 Feb	Hull FC	Halifax	24-16
9 Feb	Hunslet Hawks	Huddersfield	18-14
9 Feb	Chorley Lynx	Swinton	16-32
9 Feb	Leeds	Whitehaven	46-6
9 Feb	London	Oldham	42-12
9 Feb	Rochdale Hornets	Hull Kingston Rovers	20-27
9 Feb	Sheffield Eagles	Keighley	25-24
9 Feb	Widnes	Dewsbury	48-6
9 Feb	Wigan	Simms Cross	82-3
9 Feb	York City Knights	Doncaster	20-21

Fifth round

Date	Team one	Team two	Score
28 Feb	St Helens Saints	Batley Bulldogs	38-12
28 Feb	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	Widnes Vikings	12-22
1 Mar	Swinton Lions	Featherstone Rovers	32-10
2 Mar	Leeds Rhinos	London Broncos	21-12
2 Mar	Hunslet Hawks	Bradford Bulls	0-82
2 Mar	Doncaster Dragons	Wigan Warriors	10-50
2 Mar	Sheffield Eagles	Hull F.C.	0-88
2 Mar	Hull Kingston Rovers	Salford City Reds	2-12

Quarter-finals

Date	Team one	Team two	Score
15 Mar	Widnes Vikings	Bradford Bulls	28-38
16 Mar	Swinton Lions	Wigan Warriors	12-70
16 Mar	Leeds Rhinos	Hull F.C.	41-18
16 Mar	Salford City Reds	St Helens Saints	6-54

Semi-finals

Date	Team one	Team two	Score
12 Apr	Leeds Rhinos	St Helens Saints	33-26
13 Apr	Wigan Warriors	Bradford Bulls	22-36

Final

Bradford and Leeds lining up against each other in the Final at the Millennium Stadium

Final Score: Bradford Bulls 22 - 20 Leeds Rhinos

Referee: Russell Smith (Castleford)

Attendance: 71,212

Bradford Bulls team

Robbie Paul, Tevita Vaikona, Scott Naylor, Shontayne Hape, Lesley Vainikolo, Leon Pryce, Paul Deacon, Joe Vagana, James Lowes, Daniel Gartner, Lee Radford, Jamie Peacock, Mike Forshaw

Subs: Karl Pratt, Lee Gilmour, Rob Parker, Paul Anderson Coach: Brian Noble

Scorers

Tries: Robbie Paul, Tevita Vaikona, Jamie Peacock

Goals: Paul Deacon (5)

Leeds Rhinos team

Gary Connolly, Mark Calderwood, Chris McKenna, Keith Senior, Francis Cummins, Kevin Sinfield, Andrew Dunemann, Ryan Bailey, Matt Diskin, Barrie McDermott, Chev Walker, Matt Adamson, David Furner

Subs: Rob Burrow, Willie Poching, Danny Ward, Wayne McDonald Coach: Daryl Powell

Scorers

Tries: Gary Connolly, Chris McKenna, David Furner

Goals: Kevin Sinfield (4)

Man of the Match

The Lance Todd Trophy was awarded to Gary Connolly (Leeds).

Half time entertainment

Mis-Teeq performed at half time.

Television coverage

BBC Sport had live rights to the tournament in the United Kingdom from the fourth round onwards.

The matches shown live on the BBC were: Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 20–18 Castleford Tigers and Warrington Wolves 12-38 Bradford Bulls (R4); Leeds Rhinos 21–12 London Broncos and Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 12–22 Widnes Vikings (R5); Widnes Vikings 28–38 Bradford Bulls and Leeds Rhinos 41–18 Hull (QF); Leeds Rhinos 33–26 St Helens and Wigan Warriors 22–36 Bradford Bulls (SF); and Bradford Bulls 22–20 Leeds Rhinos (Final).

External links

• 2003 Challenge Cup Final