Challenge Cup round-up: Halifax Panthers, Featherstone Rovers, Batley Bulldogs and Sheffield Eagles all in the hat for sixth round draw as Super League sides Wigan Warriors, St Helens and Leeds Rhinos lie in wait

The Panthers ran in 11 tries, including a hat-trick for Matty Gee, as they made light work of their gutsy NCL opponents this afternoon (Sunday).

Featherstone Rovers are in the hat for tomorrow evening’s draw as well after Gareth Gale’s try in golden point extra time sealed a dramatic 14-10 victory over local rivals Wakefield Trinity.

Joining Fax and Fev in the sixth round are the Bulldogs who recorded an impressive 18-14 win at Widnes on Saturday. Sheffield Eagles also secured their place among the Super League teams who enter this next stage by beating Swinton 14-12.

Acorn began brightly at The Shay and went toe-to-toe with Fax until Eddie Prescott was sent to the sin bin after 15 minutes for a high tackle. And the hosts took full advantage with Gee breaking through a challenge to open the scoring.

They added a second shortly after with a flowing move to the left being finished by Ben Tibbs.

Back to a full compliment of players, York kept the home side out only until the 30th minute as Ben Kavanagh went over. Joe Keyes then produced a lovely dummy as Fax established a 22-0 lead on a very soggy pitch.

It only took the Panthers three minutes to extend their lead at the start of the second half thanks to Gee’s second of the afternoon after great work from Louis Jouffret and James Woodburn-Hall.

The second row forward was soon celebrating his treble, powering through a number of defenders to force himself over under the sticks.

That try seemed to open the floodgates, as a flurry of scores followed to propel Fax from 34-0 in the 62nd minute to 62-0 in the 74th.

Ryan Lannon, on his 150th career appearance, got the first of those five tries in that blistering 12-minute period, receiving a short ball from Jouffret to crash over.

Gee turned provider for the supporting Jouffret who dived over in between the sticks before converting his own try.

Hometown boy Gareth Widdop then showed his NRL class with a superb kick which was caught by Joe Keyes who did the rest before Zach McComb went over twice in quick succession to complete the scoring for Fax.

York, however, grabbed a consolation try through Anthony Chiltern who burst over from close range before converting his own score, resulting in pleasant applause from the home fans, who will be eagerly awaiting Monday night’s draw.

Fax’s head coach Liam Finn told the club’s official media after the game:

“Obviously happy to get the result first and foremost and happy with the performance in tough conditions. It was a professional performance and one off the back of a good week’s training.

“We handled it really well, we were really patient and we got rewarded at the back end of the game which was good.”

After 40 minutes at the DCBL Stadium on Saturday evening, it looked like Batley would not be in the last-16 draw as Widnes had established a handy 8-0 lead.

However, tries from Kieran Buchanan, Dave Gibbons and Luke Cooper helped the Bulldogs to a fantastic victory on the road.

Having been dumped out of the 1895 Cup last weekend at Sheffield Eagles, it seemed Mark Moxon’s men were on their way to another cup exit on their travels when Joe Lyons put them in front after only 15 minutes.

Former Batley man Tom Gilmore added the extras before extending the lead to 8-0 with a penalty before the half-time hooter.

The Bulldogs applied pressure right from the off in the second 40 with three consecutive sets but they were also defiant and disciplined at the other end to thwart the home side.

They were eventually rewarded in the 64th minute when Buchanan got on the trysheet after collecting a deflected kick before Gibbons turned the game on its head with ten minutes remaining.

Unbelievably, Batley got a third try in ten minutes thanks to a trademark Luke Cooper barge over and they held on to record a stunning victory despite Nick Gregson’s late try.

It is the second year running that Widnes have exited the Challenge Cup at the hands of Heavy Woollen opposition after their shock defeat at then-League 1 Dewsbury Rams last season.

The 12 Super League teams will now enter Monday’s sixth round draw (6.30pm) along with Batley, Halifax, Featherstone and Sheffield. At the same stage last season, Fax were dealt a dream home tie with St Helens while the Bulldogs travelled to Hull KR.