HALIFAX passed a major test of their resolve by battling back from a 10-point deficit to make it two out of two in National League One in an incident-packed thriller at Rams Stadium.
Fax were trailing 28-18 with a little over a quarter of an hour remaining when Graham Holroyd popped up on the right hand side and carved his way through the Dewsbury defence to put the visitors back in the game.
Then, former Hull KR centre Jon Goddard scored after handling twice in a move that also featured David Larder and Paul Smith, sparking wild celebrations and giving Holroyd, who finished with six from six, the chance to boot Fax into a 30-28 lead with nine minutes remaining.
The visitors then looked to have killed the contest three minutes from time when fantastic defence from Holroyd, Goddard, Larder and skipper Sean Penkywicz, the quartet driving Rams full back Mark Field over the sideline deep in his own quarter, set up the position for Paul Southern to send fellow front rower David Wrench crashing over for Fax's sixth try of a rollercoaster afternoon.
But Dewsbury surged back, Liam Finn crossing for his second try in the final minute and cutting his hometown club's lead to 36-34 with the conversion.
The Rams then made a final bid for victory which ended in controversy when two-try centre Chris Langley's scoring pass was called forward by referee Gareth Hewer on the final play of the game.
The home side argued long and loud with the Whitehaven official as he was shepherded from the field, with the Rams backroom staff insisting after the game that video footage showed Langley's pass being propelled forward by a retreating Fax defender.
Even so, It was a stroke of luck the visitors just about deserved, if only because they clearly had that little bit of extra quality that meant, even when they were a long way shy of their dazzling best, the game always looked within their grasp.
In truth, the whole afternoon would probably have been a lot less frenetic if Fax had played their cards differently in the minutes leading up to half time.
At that stage, the visitors were 18-6 ahead, with two typical touchdowns from captain Sean Penkywicz, in the 11th and 30th minutes, preceding full back Shad Royston's customary try, set up by Graham Holroyd's delayed pass and a great decoy run from Goddard.
It would be an exaggeration to say Fax were cruising at that stage, Dewsbury had after all crafted a try of their own from Finn, but they certainly looked in control.
So when Penkywicz ripped clear three minutes before the break, with Holroyd and Royston looming in support, a score seemed certain.
Unfortunately, it came at the other end of the field, with Penkywicz's pass ending up on the floor and Field taking advantage of some slow-motion reaction by the visitors to scoop up the loose ball and sprint away for his side's second.
In that one moment, the momentum of the game swung violently in Dewsbury's favour, with Austin Buchanan closing the interval scoreline to 18-16 with a last-play try from Josh Weedon's kick.
Fax began the second half briskly, Penkywicz and Paul Smith creating gap for Miles Greenwood, only for the ball to go to ground.
And Dewsbury took full advantage, Langley rumbling over after a half break from back rower Alex Bretherton.
Wingman Andy Smith, such a force in Fax's season so far, then fumbled a Weedon kick deep in his own half, setting the platform for Langley's second try with a little over 20 minutes to go.
From then on, it was a question of whether the Rams could keep Fax pinned down long enough to make their advantage stick.
They couldn't.
A perfect off-the-cuff kick from Goddard gave Lee Patterson the chance to slam Rams wingman Tom Colleran into touch, Greenwood went close from the scrum and, one tap penalty later, Holroyd surged over on the right to kick start a brilliant comeback.