HAVEN and Town will face-off once more on September 13 in the Super 8s stage of the Championship competition at the Zebras Claims Stadium.

The fixtures for the inaugural Championship Shield were announced yesterday, with Haven opening their account on August 9 with another trip to Featherstone, who they beat convincingly 29-0 on Saturday.

Haven general manager Amanda Hewer said she her side couldn’t be more confident ahead of their game next Sunday against Featherstone.

“Every game for us will be like a cup game because we are in that relegation battle,” she said. “The confidence we took from last weekend should hold us in good stead for that first game against Featherstone.

“I don’t know if we’ll get the same type of result but the lads know they can go there and get the points.”

Haven announced this week that they will be scheduling two of their Super 8s home fixtures on Saturday evenings. Earlier in the season Haven hosted Featherstone in their Challenge Cup fixture on a Saturday afternoon and there is the possibility of the club holding more fixtures on a Saturday night in 2016.

Hewer explained the reasoning: “Crowds in Cumbria aren’t the greatest so we are trying to mix it up and see what works - the 8s gives us the chance to pilot that ahead of next season.

“If the Saturdays work then it’s something we could go with next year but we won’t know unless we try.

“I don’t think we could have asked for better home games, it wouldn’t have been ideal for us to go back to London.”

Although the two clubs are rivals on and off the pitch Hewer is hopeful that both West Cumbrian sides will remain in the Championship for the 2016 season.

“It’s massive for both of us to remain in this league,” she added. “Fans from both teams might want the other team to go down but derby days are really special.

“It’s the biggest game for fans and for the two clubs. It’s the biggest bar we have and the biggest gate of the season.

“People think that there’s a huge rivalry at the top level but we are trying to work together to push the sport of rugby league in Cumbria. We both need to be in the same league together.”

Town, who finished eighth in the Championship table, and with it picked up what could be a crucial fourth home game, welcome Batley Bulldogs to Zebra Claims Stadium for the first game of the Championship Shield series.

The two teams will also play at home on Bank Holiday Monday, August 31, with Haven welcoming Hunslet Hawks and Town hosting Doncaster.

Haven’s fixtures:  

August 9 - Featherstone (a) 3pm; 

August 15 - London (h) 6.30pm; 

August 23 - Dewsbury (a) 3pm; 

August 31 - Hunslet (h) 3pm; 

September 6 - Batley (a) 3pm; 

September 13 - Workington (a) 3pm; 

September 19 - Doncaster (h) 6.30pm.