The 1908–09 Yorkshire Cup was the fourth occasion on which the Yorkshire Cup competition, a rugby league tournament, was held. The final was a repeat of the previous year's final between holder's Hunslet and the runner-up Halifax and the third meeting between the two club's in the County Cup final, as well as 1907–08, the two had met in the 1905–06 final. The match was won by Halifax who won 9–5, played at Belle Vue, in the Wakefield. The attendance was 13,000 and receipts were £356.
First round The draw for the first round was made at the Yorkshire committee meeting on 16 July 1908. With 13 teams entered into the competition, the first round comprised five ties filled by the first ten teams drawn. The three teams not drawn were given a bye to the second round. The teams with a bye were Bramley, Dewsbury and Hull. All five ties were played on 10 October 1908.
+ Yorkshire Cup first roundHomeScoreAway Venue Halifax 13–0 Leeds Thrum Hall Hull Kingston Rovers 13–19 Batley Craven Street Keighley 6–14 Hunslet Lawkholme Lane Wakefield Trinity 0–17 Huddersfield Belle Vue York 8–2 Bradford Northern Clarence Street Source:
Second round The second round draw was made on 12 October 1908. The ties were played on 24 October 1908.
+ Yorkshire Cup second roundHomeScoreAway Venue Dewsbury 32–2 Bramley Crown Flatt Halifax 31–2 Hull Thrum Hall Huddersfield 8–13 Batley Fartown York 0–14 Hunslet Clarence Street Source:
Semi-finals The Yorkshire committee met on 29 October to conduct the draw for the semi-finals. The games were played on 14 November 1908. + Yorkshire Cup Semi-finalsHomeScoreAway Venue Halifax 9–0 Batley Thrum Hall Hunslet 10–2 Dewsbury Parkside Source:
Final Wakefield Trinity's Belle Vue was chosen as the venue for the final.
Halifax dominated the first half, building up a 7–0 half-time lead through a Little drop goal, a try by Hilton and the resulting conversion kicked by Little. The second half saw Hunslet score a try through Randall which Goldthorpe converted but the final score went to Halifax as Little kicked a penalty.
+Yorkshire Cup Final teamsHalifaxNumberHunslet Fullback Billy Little 1 Herbert Place Threequarter backs William Williams 2 Billy Batten Joe Riley 3 William Hoyle Ernest Ward 4 William Eagers Dai Thomas 5 Fred Farrar Halfbacks Tommy Grey 6 Albert Goldthorpe Jimmy Hilton 7 Fred Smith Forwards Fred Hammond 8 Harry Wilson George Langhorn 9 Bill Jukes Harry Morley 10 John Higson Asa Robinson 11 Jack Randall Fred Mallinson 12 Tom Walsh Jack Swinbank 13 Charles Cappleman Source:
See also 1908–09 Northern Rugby Football Union season Rugby league county cups
References