Challenge Cup preview: Ashton Bears preview Dewsbury trip, Orrell St James discuss kind gesture to Dublin City Exiles, and Ince Rose Bridge travel to Workington

Ince Rose Bridge, Ashton Bears and Orrell St James are among the teams looking to progress from their second round ties.

Meanwhile, this stage of the competition sees clubs from League One and the National Conference League Premier Division enter proceedings.

Here are the fixtures to look out for:

Ashton Bears V Dewsbury Rams

Ashton Bears progressed to the second round of the competition with a 28-12 victory over the British Army in Aldershot.

Tyler Pilling and Matty Smith both claimed braces, while Alex Ashby and Dec O’Donnell were also on the scoresheet.

Although they were due to play their second round tie at home, the Bears will now travel to the Flair Stadium on Saturday afternoon for their fixture against Dewsbury Rams (K.O. 2pm).

The League One club, who were relegated from the Championship last year, started their season with a 38-18 victory away to North Wales Crusaders at the weekend.

Ahead of the game, Ashton’s general manager and assistant coach Wayne Haselden said: “It’s the biggest game in our history, I don’t think that’s an overstatement.

“They’re the highest ranked team we’ve ever played, so we know it’s a bit of a step up to what we are usually used to.

“We wanted to be at home, but we couldn’t host it at our ground because of the RFL criteria, which is understandable.

“We tried to get something arranged, but in the end we decided just to reverse it, and there’s still something exciting about that so there’s no complaints.

“We are taking a couple of coaches full of fans, and loads are driving up as well. It should be a good day.

“They were unbelievable when we played the Army, and made some noise down in Aldershot.

“There’s probably double the amount of that going this time, so we will make ourselves heard on the day.

“Everyone is excited, and the whole club is getting behind us.

“Kids from our junior section are going up, so everyone is buying into it and getting behind us.

“This is only our second time in the Challenge Cup, and the Army game was only our third game.

“No one fancied us to beat them, and we did it quite well.

“This is another step up, and will be the best team we’ve ever played, but this is the best place we’ve ever been, so we will have a good dig.

“Our message is, don’t have any fear, just go and enjoy.

“If we give the best versions of ourselves on the day, then we can all look at each other in the changing rooms afterwards.

“Historically, we’re seen as a smaller club within Wigan and we don’t get as much attention, so it’s good that our name is getting out there.

“It’s only just over an hour to Dewsbury on the coach so if we won we might have to do a couple of laps to let us carry on drinking.

“We are going to enjoy it, win or lose we will have a good day.

“Hopefully we can give them something to think about, and have a beer afterwards no matter what.”

Orrell St James V Dublin City Exiles

Orrell St James face Dublin City Exiles on Saturday afternoon (K.O. 3pm), after beating Distington 16-4 in the first round.

This weekend’s visitors to Bankes Avenue enjoyed a good day out in London to set up this tie, overcoming Hammersmith Hill Hoists with a 42-8 victory.

This result made them the first Irish club to win a Challenge Cup game, with their previous appearance in the competition coming back in 2003.

In order to fund their trip to Wigan, the Exiles have organised a GoFundMe page, which Orrell St James have donated £500 to.

On the gesture, club secretary Peter Barnes said: “It’s just how we do things, we put the money up front to make sure they can come.

“It’s the spirit of community rugby league.

“They’re stuck out in Ireland, and there’s not many teams, but they are doing very well.

“They had to travel to Hammersmith for the first round, and then they’ve been given another journey over so I thought it was the least we could do to help them out.

“They’re coming over Friday night and will come up to the ground on Saturday.

“We are making a fuss of it, tidying up the ground and making everything is ready.

"If we can match last year’s attendance (from the game against Army Rugby League) then we will be doing very well.”

Head coach Sean McHugh added: “We saw that Dublin had a GoFundMe page set up, so we felt that on a day where we are going to make money with the gate and the bar, we just wanted to share it with a little bit to make it easier for them.

"These games are big thing for our community.”

Workington Town V Ince Rose Bridge

Ince Rose Bridge enjoyed a day to remember in the first round, as they overcame rivals St Pats with a 30-22 victory.

Fullback Peter Valentine claimed a hat-trick, while Harry Penny and Kallem Rodgers were also on the scoresheet.

On Sunday afternoon, the Wigan side travel to Derwent Park to face League One outfit Workington Town (K.O. 2pm).

The Cumbrian club, who were relegated from the Championship last season, started the 2023 campaign with a 58-16 victory away to London Skolars.