Orrell St James knocked out of Challenge Cup with draw details confirmed for rounds three and four

The reigning North West Men’s League Premier Division champions, who defeated St Helens-based Haresfinch in the opening round, were once again live on The Sportsman at home but could not cause an upset against higher opposition.

A serious-looking knee injury to York Acorn player Luke Swales temporarily halted the National Conference League Premier side’s progress, but when play resumed the Yorkshire side did enough to claim their place in the hat for the next round.

Following the tie, Orrell St James head coach Sean McHugh told The Sportsman: “I’m disappointed with the way we played, but I want to congratulate York Acorn and I hope that they get a good draw and some money behind their club.

"We’ve had our couple of days out, it’s been great for the community and great for the club.”

Highlighting the community spirit, he continued: “I think it’s really important and if we’ve gained a few more people who know what we’re about and know that they can bring their kids down here and that we’re a family club, it’s all good for us.

"It’s a good family club and all our lads who played today are from our community. It makes us really proud.

"I was proud of the effort, at 22-6, there was the danger of it becoming a little bit embarrassing.

"But they dug in and the effort was there, we just didn’t complete. If we played similar to last week and without the errors, I think we’d have been in the game.”

22 semi-professional clubs from the Championship and League 1 will enter the prestigious competition for the third round, which will be hosted by Tanya Arnold.

The draws for rounds 3 and 4 of the Betfred Challenge Cup will be streamed on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app live from the DCBL Stadium, home of Widnes Vikings, on Monday 29 January, from 6.30pm.

The 16 ties will take place over the weekend of 10/11 February.