Top two face off in the Betfred Championship

 

It’s a top of the table clash in the Betfred Championship as Leigh Centurions host Featherstone Rovers at the Leigh Sports Village.

It’ll be the third time the two teams have met this season after facing each other in league action earlier in the season before facing off in the 1895 Cup Final last month.

Whilst Rovers came out on top in league action earlier in the campaign, it was Adrian Lam who had the bigger of the laughs as his Centurions side came out on top at the magnificent Tottenham Hotspur Stadium with what turned out to be a fairly comfortable victory over the Yorkshire side.

Prior to the final, many rugby league fans expected the final between the two Championship heavyweights to be the more entertaining of the two finals and both sides made their arguments very clear as to why they are respectively arguing their case for a 14-team Super League in the near future.

And whilst that is a completely different matter all together, the point remains the same, both these sides with the form they are in wouldn’t look an inch out of place in the league above and are setting up for a fascinating clash on Monday night.

Leigh have lost just twice in 19 games in all competitions whilst Featherstone have just two loses and a draw in 19 games this campaign, showing the strength these two sides possess.

But Rovers will be travelling to the Sports Village looking for revenge after their heart-breaking cup final defeat. Rovers were well in the game leading into the second half but some individual brilliance from Edwin Ipape inspired Leigh to run away with the game in the second period as Featherstone struggled to contain the stand-off.

Ahead of Monday night’s clash which is to be screened live on Premier Sports for any neutrals interested, in which I’m sure there will be, the team news broke out in the build-up to the match up with stars of the 1895 Cup final Ipape and Blake Ferguson both named for Leigh.

Featherstone will be without Kyle Trout but still name a strong squad assuming their fitness is all good to go after some players were believed to be carrying knocks following on from the clash with Bradford Bulls.

But with just the league campaign now to focus on for both sides, both coaches will be desperate to gain a mental and visible advantage over the opposition as they occupy the top two spots in the Betfred Championship with Featherstone leading by just a point after picking up a draw earlier in the season.

With a 7:45pm kick off, many rugby league spectators are expecting a classic as both teams look likely to take this season’s final standings down to the wire.

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