The 17th Earl of Derby donated a cup to the winners of the inaugural winners of the Rugby League cup for the 1934-35 season. That was the first year of French RL also. The Earl's surname was Stanley and his father donated a cup to another sport.
Round of 16: The match ups and finals scores are as below. Two Elite 2 sides progressed, Carpentras overwhelming another Elite 2 side Tonneins while Villegailhenc upset Elite 1 team Villefranche.
Round of 8: The Elite 2 teams both bowed out at this stage although Villegailhenc put up stout resistance against -admittedly lowly Elite 1 side Toulouse. At the time of these games being played, the top three in the Elite 1 league made the semi final along with bottom placed Toulouse.
Semi Final: Carcassonne has won the cup the last three times and 16 times since 1950. I was up against a side that last won it back in 1974 and only once even going back to 1950. Carcassonne led 20-12 at the half way mark and on track for another final.
A ten minute sin bin for an AS player at the resumption opened led to two quick tries for Albi had them in front to establish a lead they didn't relinquish. It was however 30-30 at full time but Albi snatched an intercept try in golden point extra time for the victory.
The second match was played in wet conditions with the Catalan side narrowly ahead 6-0 at the break. They went on to win 16-0 without looking like losing.
Final: 5th April.
The youthful Catalan side raced to an early 16-0 before Albi came back to only trail 10-16 at the half time break. Then early in the second half, Albi took the lead 18-16 but were unable to take advantage of that.
Saint-Estève XIII Catalan took the Lord Derby trophy for the first time since 2018 but Albi's last success was in 1974 and its third losing final since 2008. Video highlights can be seen below. The picture can be expanded by clicking on the [ ] box or the YouTube logo.