YORK Acorn have a great opportunity to restore pride to the Thanet Road ranks following their derby defeat -- by achieving a notable scalp as the Powergen Challenge Cup gets underway.

The Blue and Golds, shocked 22-6 at home by arch-rivals Heworth in the Arriva Trains Conference division two last weekend, visit amateur big-guns Castleford Lock Lane in the preliminary round of the famous old competition on Saturday (ko 2.30pm).

They will go as massive underdogs against the premier division outfit, who have a renowned Challenge Cup history, but will be spurred by the potential glory of a cup run as well as a desire to overcome last week's disappointment.

"We're looking to bounce back obviously," said Acorn player-coach Dave Kay.

"We'll be going there as clear underdogs and I know Lock Lane have got an excellent record in the cup - they've reached the third round (when National League clubs enter the competition) a lot of times and that's the goal for amateur clubs, to come up against professional opposition.

"But it's cup rugby and upsets do happen, and on our day we can upset anyone."

He added: "Morale has taken a hit after last week but it was evident in the changing rooms that the players know we need more conviction and commitment from them, and we will be asking for that this week."

Captain Lee Frank has returned to training after injury but is not ready to play, while Nicky Caldwell (knee), Stephen Waldron (ankle) and Paul Payne (unavailable) are also likely to miss out.

Johnny Waldron, 21, will be playing two games in two days after his selection for the Yorkshire squad who take on Aussie tourists Manly on Sunday. Kay said: "It's just deserts in what's been an excellent season for him so far."

Heworth, handed a bye in the preliminary round of the cup, will look to build on last week's notable triumph as they visit mid-table Normanton Knights in ATC division two (ko 2pm).

The Villagers had only one win in ten games before last weekend's derby victory but will now go to Normanton with boosted confidence and renewed enthusiasm.

"The morale before the Acorn game was absolutely unbelievable, probably the best set-up to a game we've had this season," said player-coach Brendan Carlyle, who had made an effort to gee his players up for the all-York clash.

"The win and then when we all went out to watch the Test match (Great Britain v Australia) fetched all the players back together and hopefully it will continue this week.

"Normanton got beat at the weekend (at Castleford Panthers) and we won so hopefully we can start on a winning streak. We're definitely looking forward to the game after last week's performance."

Sam Clarke will be unavailable but otherwise Heworth, who have been boosted by the return of a few players after injury, are likely to stick with a similar team to last week.

New Earswick All Blacks should take nothing for granted when they entertain Batley Boys in the CMS Yorkshire League senior division on Saturday.

The West Yorkshire side might be second bottom of the table after just one win in five games but they finished above All Blacks last season when both sides won promotion.

And, although the York side won the tussle in last season's Gordon Teale White Rose Trophy semi-final, Batley did the league double over them on their way to the title, winning at home by a point thanks to an injury-time conversion and by four points at White Rose Avenue.

All Blacks' committee, meanwhile, are to ask for a Yorkshire League representative to be present next time they face arch-rivals Hunslet Old Boys following the fracas during the clash two weeks ago, which allegedly saw a sin-binned Hunslet player, their coach and at least one spectator enter the pitch and get involved.

However, they have decided against asking for Hunslet to be charged and will leave league chiefs to deal with the matter.

York Groves return to Pennine League division five action following their York and District Cup win over Selby Warriors last week. They face a tricky match, however, away to Undercliffe, who are one place and four points above them in the table in third, albeit having played four games more.

Warriors have a week off, while York Acorn 'A', runaway leaders of the division, have a top-of-the-table clash at second-placed Thornton in a game postponed from last week.

The match report of the York and District Cup clash between Groves v Selby said the victors, Groves, now meet Acorn in the final. In fact, the pair will meet in the semi-final, with New Earswick and Heworth contesting the other. Dates for the matches have not yet been confirmed.

Updated: 09:44 Thursday, November 13, 2003