Aspatria Hornets are back in the BARLA National Cup after their conquerors in the first round have been thrown out.
Ackworth Jaguars fielded ineligible players in their 30-18 win over the Hornets last week so the Cumbrians have been reinstated in the competition.
It gives them a home tie next Saturday against Sharlston Rovers, who themselves had a walkover in the first round when intended hosts Hindley pulled-out.
Hornets coach Hitro Okesene said: “It has come as a complete surprise because we had heard nothing about it all until our secretary was informed that Ackworth had been dismissed from the competition.
“We are happy to return to the competition and look forward to the home tie. It will be good for our supporters.
“We had a couple of players with knocks in the game at Ackworth so we will have ton assess them during the week, but there is a prospect of more players being available. We had to use players in positions they weren’t used to because of absentees last week.
“I don’t know anything at all about Sharlston but hope to pick up a bit of information before we play them.”
Aspatria players had last Tuesday off because of the hard game at Ackworth and only did some light gym work on Thursday, but will be back to normal training this coming week ahead of the game.
The old mining village of Sharlston, situated in a hot-bed of rugby league around Featherstone, Wakefield and Castleford is home to the Rovers. It is the birthplace of several top names in the game, including the famous Fox brothers – Neil, Don and Peter.
They play in the Pennine League and won the National Cup in the 2010/11 season.
