1978–79 was the sixty-sixth occasion on which the Lancashire Cup completion had been held.
Widnes won the trophy by beating Workington Town by the score of 15-13
The match was played at Central Park, Wigan, (historically in the county of Lancashire). The attendance was 10,020 and receipts were £6,261.00
After relatively little success in the competition, Workington Town had reached the semi-final stage in 1973, 1974 and 1975, had been runner-up in 1976, winner in 1977, and now runners-up again in 1978. They would go on to be runners-up again in 1979.
Background
The total number of teams entering the competition remained at last season’s total of 14 with no junior/amateur clubs taking part.
The same fixture format was retained, but due to the number of participating clubs, this resulted in one “blank” or “dummy” fixture in the first round, and one bye in the second round.
Competition and results
Round 1 Involved 7 matches (with one “blank” fixture) and 14 clubs Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Fri 18 Aug 1978Salford30-15OldhamThe Willows2Fri 18 Aug 1978Whitehaven15-12Blackpool BoroughRecreation Ground3Sun 20 Aug 1978Barrow13-17LeighCraven Park4Sun 20 Aug 1978St. Helens14-14Rochdale HornetsKnowsley Road40005Sun 20 Aug 1978Warrington18-4SwintonWilderspool6Sun 20 Aug 1978Widnes43-6HuytonNaughton Park7Sun 20 Aug 1978Workington Town14-2WiganDerwent Park42008blankblank
Round 1 – First replays Involved 1 match and 2 clubs Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Wed 23 Aug 1978Rochdale Hornets8-8St. HelensAthletic Grounds2384
Round 1 – Second replays Involved 1 match and 2 clubs Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Fri 25 Aug 1978St. Helens28-9Rochdale HornetsCentral Park2906
Round 2 - Quarter-finals Involved 3 matches (with one bye) and 7 clubs
Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Sun 27 Aug 1978Leigh21-4St. HelensHilton Park56002Sun 27 Aug 1978Whitehaven6-19SalfordRecreation Ground3Sun 27 Aug 1978Widnes17-10WarringtonNaughton Park4Workington Townbye
Round 3 – Semi-finals Involved 2 matches and 4 clubs
Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef 1Wed 13 Sep 1978Salford8-9Workington TownThe Willows2Wed 13 Sep 1978Widnes28-14LeighNaughton Park
Final Game NoFixture dateHome team Score Away teamVenueAttRecNotesRef Saturday 7 October 1978Widnes15-13Workington TownCentral Park10,0206,2611
Teams and scorers
Widnes№Workington Town teams David Eckersley1Paul CharltonStuart Wright2David CollisterMal Aspey3John RismanMick George4Ray WilkinsMick Burke5Iain McCorquodaleEric Hughes6Derek McMillanReg Bowden7Arnold "Boxer" WalkerJim Mills8Harry BeverleyKeith Elwell9Alan BanksGlyn Shaw10Eddie BowmanMick Adams11Robert BlackwoodAlan Dearden12Peter GorleyDoug Laughton13Bill PattinsonPaul Woods14David SmithDavid Hull (for Alan Dearden)15Les Gorley (for William "Bill" Pattinson) 15score135HT11 Scorers Tries Stuart Wright (1)TRay Wilkins (1)Doug Laughton (2)TIain McCorquodale (1)TLes Gorley (1) Goals Mick Burke (3)GIain McCorquodale (2)RefereeW H (Billy) Thompson (Huddersfield)Man of the matchArnold "Boxer" Walker - Workington Town - sponsored byBurtonwood BreweryCompetition SponsorForshaws (Burtonwood Brewery Co Ltd) Scoring - Try = three points - Goal = two points - Drop goal = one point
The road to success
Notes and comments 1 * Central Park was the home ground of Wigan with a final capacity of 18,000, although the record attendance was 47,747 for Wigan v St Helens 27 March 1959
See also 1978–79 Northern Rugby Football League season Rugby league county cups
References
External links