Sheffield building up winning streak ahead of Challenge Cup clash

Sheffield continued their winning streak at the weekend as they build-up towards next month’s Challenge Cup quarter-final against London.

Friday’s 24-16 defeat of Dewsbury made it 12 games won in a row for Mark Aston’s men, and many neutrals are giving them an outside shot of causing a cup upset against the Super League Broncos when they meet at Don Valley Stadium on July 12.

Aston said: “I’m not nervous and I don’t worry, but with every game now everyone wants to beat us.

“They always say that when you’re on a run like us then you’re always getting closer to the loss.

“If you’re going to carry on winning and you’re going to beat teams like London, then you’ve got to be good defensively.”

The win over Dewsbury secured Sheffield’s place in the Northern Rail Cup semi-finals, where they will play South Yorkshire rivals Doncaster.

They were forced to defend for long periods close to their own line, and were down 16-0 at one stage, but shut the Rams out for the entire second half.

Aston added: “We showed spirit and that mettle, and commitment to the cause and to each other.

“It’s relief that we just did enough to win it.

“But it’s a special team which stops a team scoring in the second half for 40 minutes.”