Having beaten Batley 34-24 in the opening round of the Buddies National League Cup to take their winning streak to six games, the wheels well and truly came off the Dewsbury challenge as they got a good old fashioned thumping from the Biffs midweek.

And the defeat wasn't the only reason to go back over the pennines with their docked tail between their legs.

Fielding a team weakened by injury at Hust Cross,, the Rams suffered further setbacks with full-back Nathan Batty (ankle), forward Mark Hawksley (knee), hooker Andy Speak (ribs) and prop Paul Hicks (knee) joining the queue for the treatment table.

But there's still reason to be wary of this Dewsbury side. Not least of reasons is the beating they gave a lacklustre Hornets side eight weeks ago. And if I were to give two words of warning to Hornets about this weekend's fixture they'd be 'Jim' and 'Elston'. The livewire scrum half took us to bits at Ram Stadium on our last visit - darting up and down the line all afternoon with no end of willing straight runners to thread into the slightest of chinks. And it worked a treat. While Hornets stood back and admired his handiwork, the Rams were more than happy to capitalise and teach us that being lazy doesn't win games.

Also in the Rams Line-up is Adrian Flynn who has a nose for a try and the pace to back it up, Frank Watene and Tony Fella who are a handful or two and player coach Andy Fisher who leads from the front regardless of the score.

Hopefully Hornets will have learned by now that enthusiasm can carry a team through and if the Rams are fired up for this one, we'll have a game on our hands for sure.

As for Hornets, a win on Sunday would put us in a very good position in our group . We beat Oldham, Oldham beat Dewsbury, Dewsbury beat Batley - as the other teams take points off each other it's vital that no-one takes points of us. Admittedly, I'd trade the two points tossed away in February for a 50-nil defeat on Sunday, but as that's hardly likely, we can at least restore some pride and set up an interesting game against the Shudderfield Midgets next week.

Last week's return for Dave Watson lifted team and supporters alike - his Gladiatorial performance at fullback undoubtedly saved our skins. He's a class act and he holds us together, no doubt. Also good to see Wayne McHugh in the 17 last week - even though his contribution was minimal, his 'A' Team performances warrant a call up. Good too to see Darren Robinson back in the fold. Sidelined last week with a knock picked up in the 'A' Team, he could be in contention for a bench place this Sunday. Let's hope Andy Ireland's not too far behind him.

So, far from being the Mickey Mouse effort we all thought, the Buddies National League Cup got off to a great start - tell any Hornets fan that last week's result didn't matter. Equally, this week's game is imbued with a sense of a mistake that needs to be righted, a chance to show the good burghers of Dewsbury and our own travelling fans that we're as good on grass as we are on paper. A win on Sunday would pit the two unbeaten sides in our group together next week. It's vital that we go into the Shuddersfield game with our record intact and our confidence high.

Every time a Hornets side takes to the field it matters. Be there on Sunday and show the lads that it matters to you too. It'll be a cracker. See you there.