Fans were left furious after a power failure brought the Challenge Cup fourth-round encounter between Wakefield Trinity and Leeds Rhinos to an unexpected standstill on Friday evening.
The floodlights at the DIY Kitchens Stadium cut out merely six minutes after kick-off, leaving the venue shrouded in complete darkness.
Referee Jack Smith was forced to halt proceedings and remove both teams from the field.
The blackout lasted roughly 19 minutes before electricity was restored to the ground.
When the lights finally flickered back on, supporters in attendance responded with loud cheers, greeting each set of floodlights returning to life with renewed enthusiasm.
Both sets of players stood motionless on the pitch for approximately five minutes before making their way back through the tunnel to the changing rooms.
The packed 9,000-capacity venue was plunged into an eerie scene, with spectators resorting to their mobile phone torches to provide what little illumination they could.
The only other sources of light came from emergency bulbs and the glow of LED advertising boards around the ground.
A power failure brought the Challenge Cup fourth-round encounter between Wakefield Trinity and Leeds Rhinos to an unexpected standstill
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BBC
Wakefield issued a statement during the interruption.
It read: “The players and coaching staff head back to the dressing room. We will provide further updates as soon as possible.”
The BBC iPlayer broadcast, which had been streaming the match live, was left with nothing to show viewers and eventually resorted to playing trailers instead.
Frustrated supporters took to social media to voice their disappointment at the embarrassing scenes.
The floodlights at the DIY Kitchens Stadium cut out merely six minutes after kick-off
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BBC
One fan wrote: “Let’s be fair. A power cut could happen at any sporting event. But it would be Rugby League, in the Challenge Cup, live on BBC iPlayer, wouldn’t it?”
Another said: “BBC Rugby league goes off due to power failure.”
A third supporter added: “Tinpot doesn’t do it justice. What a shocker.”
Wakefield Trinity later explained that the outage stemmed from a “suspected isolated cable fault” which was “totally unforeseen and should be sorted now”.
The Challenge Cup trophy is the prize for the world’s oldest rugby league knockout competition, founded in 1896
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GETTY
The club emphasised that all standard pre-match inspections had been carried out without any issues being detected.
Once power was restored, play recommenced from the seventh minute with Trinity in possession inside their own 30-metre line.
The score remained goalless at the point of interruption, but Leeds managed to establish a narrow advantage as the contest progressed.
By the interval, the Rhinos held a slender 14-12 lead over their West Yorkshire rivals.
