# 1985–86 Yorkshire Cup

The 1985–86 Yorkshire Cup was the seventy-eighth occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition had been held. This season there were no junior/amateur clubs taking part, no "leavers", but one new entrant in the form of newcomers to the league, Sheffield Eagles and so the total of entries increases by one up to seventeen. This in turn resulted in the necessity to introduce a preliminary round to reduce the number of clubs entering the first round to sixteen.
Last year's runner-up, Hull Kingston Rovers returned to the finals stage to win the trophy this year by beating Castleford by the score of 22–18. The match was played at Headingley, Leeds, now in West Yorkshire. The attendance was 12,686 and receipts were £36,327. It was the third time in the incredible eleven-year period in which Castleford. previously only once winners in 1977, will make eight appearances in the Yorkshire Cup final, winning on four and ending as runner-up on four occasions.

## Background

The Rugby Football League's Yorkshire Cup competition was a knock-out competition between (mainly professional) rugby league clubs from the county of Yorkshire. The actual area was at times increased to encompass other teams from outside the county such as Newcastle, Mansfield, Coventry, and even London (in the form of Acton & Willesden). The Rugby League season always (until the onset of "Summer Rugby" in 1996) ran from around August-time through to around May-time and this competition always took place early in the season, in the Autumn, with the final taking place in (or just before) December (The only exception to this was when disruption of the fixture list was caused during, and immediately after, the two World Wars).

## Competition and results
### Preliminary round

Involved 1 match and 2 clubs
| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| P1 | Wed 4 Sep 1985 | Castleford | 38-6 | Sheffield Eagles | Wheldon Road | 1748 | | 1 | |

### Round 1

Involved 8 matches (with no byes) and 16 clubs
| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att |
| 1 | Sun 15 Sep 1985 | Batley | 10-14 | Dewsbury | Mount Pleasant | 2148 |
| 2 | Sun 15 Sep 1985 | Bradford Northern | 40-15 | Wakefield Trinity | Odsal | 3180 |
| 3 | Sun 15 Sep 1985 | Bramley | 22-10 | Doncaster | McLaren Field | 582 |
| 4 | Sun 15 Sep 1985 | Castleford | 60-2 | Hunslet | Wheldon Road | 2708 |
| 5 | Sun 15 Sep 1985 | Halifax | 52-14 | Huddersfield Barracudas | Thrum Hall | 2516 |
| 6 | Sun 15 Sep 1985 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 12-10 | Hull F.C. | Craven Park (1) | 10115 |
| 7 | Sun 15 Sep 1985 | Leeds | 60-12 | Keighley | Headingley | 4775 |
| 8 | Sun 15 Sep 1985 | York | 18-26 | Featherstone Rovers | Clarence Street | 2283 |

### Round 2 - Quarter-finals

Involved 4 matches and 8 clubs
| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att |
| 1 | Wed 25 Sep 1985 | Dewsbury | 2-48 | Leeds | Crown Flatt | 3700 |
| 2 | Wed 25 Sep 1985 | Featherstone Rovers | 11-22 | Bradford Northern | Post Office Road | 2185 |
| 3 | Wed 25 Sep 1985 | Halifax | 4-24 | Castleford | Thrum Hall | 4012 |
| 4 | Wed 25 Sep 1985 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 30-6 | Bramley | Craven Park (1) | 3959 |

### Round 3 – Semi-finals

Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs
| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| 1 | Wed 2 Oct 1985 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 11-5 | Bradford Northern | Craven Park (1) | 6008 | | | |
| 2 | Wed 2 Oct 1985 | Leeds | 10-14 | Castleford | Headingley | 10281 | | | |

### Final

| Game No | Fixture Date | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Venue | Att | Rec | Notes | Ref |
| | Sunday 27 October 1985 | Hull Kingston Rovers | 22-18 | Castleford | Headingley | 12,686 | £36,327 | 2 | |

#### Teams and scorers

| Hull Kingston Rovers | No. | Castleford |
| | teams | |
| George Fairbairn | 1 | Gary Lord |
| Garry Clark | 2 | David Plange |
| John Dorahy | 3 | Tony Marchant |
| Gary Prohm | 4 | Gary Hyde |
| David Laws | 5 | Tony Spears |
| Gordon Smith | 6 | Steve Diamond |
| Paul Harkin | 7 | Robert "Bob" Beardmore |
| Peter Johnston | 8 | Kevin Ward |
| David Watkinson | 9 | Kevin Beardmore |
| Asuquo "Zook" Ema | 10 | Barry Johnson |
| Chris Burton | 11 | Keith England |
| Phil Hogan | 12 | Martin Ketteridge |
| Gavin Miller | 13 | John Joyner |
| John Lydiat (for George Fairbairn) | 14 | David Roockley |
| Andy Kelly (for Phil Hogan) | 15 | Ian Fletcher |
| Roger Millward | Coach | Malcolm "Mal" Reilly |
| 22 | score | 18 |
| 10 | HT | 6 |
| | Scorers | |
| | Tries | |
| Garry Clark (1) | T | Tony Marchant (2) |
| Gavin Miller (2) | T | Robert "Bob" Beardmore (1) |
| | Goals | |
| John Dorahy (5) | G | Steve Diamond (1) |
| | G | Robert "Bob" Beardmore (2) |
| Referee | | Ronald "Ronnie" Campbell (Widnes) |
| White Rose Trophy for Man of the match | | Gavin Miller - Hull KR - Loose forward |
| sponsored by | | |
| Competition Sponsor | | John Smith's Brewery Tadcaster |
Scoring - Try = four points - Goal = two points - Drop goal = one point

### The road to success

| First round | First round | First round | Second round | Second round | Second round | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | | Final | Final | Final |
| Hull Kingston Rovers | Hull Kingston Rovers | 12 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Hull F.C. | Hull F.C. | 10 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Hull F.C. | Hull F.C. | 10 | Hull Kingston Rovers | Hull Kingston Rovers | 30 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Bramley | Bramley | 6 | | | | | | | |
| Bramley | Bramley | 22 | Bramley | Bramley | 6 | | | | | | | |
| Doncaster | Doncaster | 10 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Doncaster | Doncaster | 10 | | | | Hull Kingston Rovers | Hull Kingston Rovers | 11 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Bradford Northern | Bradford Northern | 5 | | | | |
| York | York | 18 | | | | | | | Bradford Northern | Bradford Northern | 5 | | | | |
| Featherstone Rovers | Featherstone Rovers | 26 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Featherstone Rovers | Featherstone Rovers | 26 | Featherstone Rovers | Featherstone Rovers | 11 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Bradford Northern | Bradford Northern | 22 | | | | | | | |
| Bradford Northern | Bradford Northern | 40 | Bradford Northern | Bradford Northern | 22 | | | | | | | |
| Wakefield Trinity | Wakefield Trinity | 15 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Wakefield Trinity | Wakefield Trinity | 15 | | | | | | | | Hull Kingston Rovers | Hull Kingston Rovers | 22 |
| | | | | | | | | | | Castleford | Castleford | 18 |
| Batley | Batley | 10 | | | | | | | | | | | Castleford | Castleford | 18 |
| Dewsbury | Dewsbury | 14 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Dewsbury | Dewsbury | 14 | Dewsbury | Dewsbury | 2 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Leeds | Leeds | 48 | | | | | | | |
| Leeds | Leeds | 60 | Leeds | Leeds | 48 | | | | | | | |
| Keighley | Keighley | 12 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Keighley | Keighley | 12 | | | | Leeds | Leeds | 10 | | | | |
| | | | | | | Castleford | Castleford | 14 | | | | |
| Halifax | Halifax | 52 | | | | | | | Castleford | Castleford | 14 | | | | |
| Huddersfield Barracudas | Huddersfield Barracudas | 14 | | | | | | | | | | |
| Huddersfield Barracudas | Huddersfield Barracudas | 14 | Halifax | Halifax | 4 | | | | | | | |
| | | | Castleford | Castleford | 24 | | | | | | | |
| Castleford | Castleford | 60 | Castleford | Castleford | 24 | | | | | | | |
| Hunslet | Hunslet | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |