The pack was superb in the difficult conditions at Team Northumbria way back on November 20th. The wind which blew off the sea that day soon brought the snow and ice which meant that our next run out was more than six weeks later against  Mowden.

But once again the pack stepped up to the mark to engineer a 7 try victory margin - accomplished against higher league opposition without skipper Jonny Boatman, Colin Cheslin and winger Adam Larkin.  All have just about recovered from "man flu" and will be in the squad for the trip to Rovers.

It is top v bottom, a local derby and is likely to be played in heavy conditions making it no place for the faint hearted. The likes of Chocky Davies and Stephen Stockdale led from the front against Mowden, and they will have to do the same against a Rovers side fighting for its life.

The hosts will be without the influential Mark Power following a back operation which means he will miss most of the rest of the season. Mark was at a spectator at the Mowden game and was looking fit - we wish him a speedy recovery.

No doubt much of the pre-match talk will be of the players who swopped clubs in the summer -the Foremans , Readhead and Wilson, and the Sheriff desperate for points against his old club.  Hopefully, it will all add to a bumper crowd as the bank balance of every rugby club has taken a real pasting in the last six weeks.

For our part we'd be happy if Rovers took the money and we took the points. Our nearest rivals have difficult games - Cleckheaton at Carlisle and Percy Park at Old Brods - so  victory over our old rivals could well help us open a gap at the top which is arguably even more important than local bragging rights.

West: Stu Waites, Darren Thomas, Colin Cheslin, Gav Robinson, Andrew Cheslin, Gareth Foreman, Andrew Foreman, Anth Carr, Liam Bailey, Stephen Stockdale, Tom Dixon, Andrew Davies, Dan Boatman, Jon Boatman [c], Adam Howard. Reps: Adam Larkin, Carl Miller, Adam Coates