Whitehaven are set for a reunion with former coach Carl Forster in the fourth round of the Coral Challenge Cup.

Haven were handed a home draw against Forster’s new club Rochdale Hornets with the tie to be played on the weekend of March 30/31.

Workington Town will also have a home draw in the fourth round, against fellow League One side Newcastle Thunder, if they see off amateurs Siddal at Derwent Park on Sunday.

In actual fact, all three Cumbrian teams were favoured with home draws as Barrow were paired with York City Knights.

But the clash between Whitehaven and Rochdale is the stand out tie because of the relative success Forster enjoyed during his two seasons in charge at the Recreation Ground.

He took Whitehaven to the play-off final where they lost narrowly to Barrow, and then missed out on the play-offs only by points differential.

Since then he has taken charge of Rochdale in the Championship, who recently collected their first win against Barrow.

Whitehaven coach Gary Charlton said: “It’s going to be very interesting in the Challenge Cup against Fozzy’s team.

“He obviously knows quite a lot of our team and three or four former Whitehaven players are with him now.

“At least, if they have any dual-registration players, they are unlikely to be allowed to play by their parent club.”

Last season, Whitehaven hammered Rochdale in the Challenge Cup, one of the stand out performances of the fourth round.

Workington will have an early look at cup opponents Newcastle as they host Thunder in the week ahead of the Challenge Cup tie.

Chairman Les Smallwood said: “Obviously the first priority is to beat Siddal on Sunday before we can think about Newcastle.

“It will mean back-to-back matches with Thunder as we play them in League One the week before.”

The new 1895 Cup is set to make its bow on the weekend of May 5/6 and both west Cumbrian clubs were drawn away, as the first round centres on League One clubs.

Whitehaven will travel to Oldham, where they lost 36-12 in their second game of the season.

Workington are also on the road, travelling to Hunslet who have set-off the season with two wins and top the league table on points differential.

The 1895 Cup is open to clubs outside Super League and will hold the final at Wembley.