Heysham Atoms 25 - Higginshaw Eagles (Oldham) 12

THE ATOMS progressed to the second round of the Lancashire Cup on Tuesday, but the evening wasn't without incident.
With 73 minutes gone the college floodlights failed and the game was unable to re-start.
Confusion reigned as it was unsure whether the result would stand, or the game would have to be replayed.
Thankfully the cup committee was consulted and the result was allowed to stand.
It was a little disappointing that the game finished when it did, as at the point of abandonment the Atoms had just gained full control of a tight game, showing good patience in sticking to the plan.
From the hour mark onwards there was only one side in it and the Atoms could have felt confident about pushing on and adding to their points total.
However, it was not to be, but the Atoms did achieve their intended goal of progressing into the second round of the Lancashire Cup.
The reward for this is a home tie against premiership outfit Widnes Albion on Saturday, September 14.
On the night it was the team performance that was the key to success with all the players knuckling down to the things that had been pointed out in training.
An improvement in ball control and the technique in the contact situations were the areas that were highlighted as a need for improvement and both were achieved.
Although playing out of division four Higginshaw came to the game in a confident mood after a successful start to their season.
They got off to the best start possible, posting the first try on the 12 minute mark.
Patience is a key word for the new Atoms coaching team, and they showed this in abundance for their first score.
Repeat sets of six on the try line will always reap some rewards and Brian Cambidge took full advantage on the last tackle. He backed himself close to the line, showing good power to drive himself over for a try.
The final score of the half was a Mike Hope penalty giving the Atoms a two point half-time lead.
The in-form Rob Shaw joined the pack that was beginning to dominate the rucks.
The threequarters, who had been kept quiet in the first period, finally found some room to work in, with the ball handling trio of Helme, Walker and Hartlebury now coming to the fore.
Ian Woods benefited from the extra width from the Atoms' play, charging into a huge hole in Higginshaw's defence, after McVernon had battered his way forward down the left flank to go over unopposed from 20 yards out.
The Oldham side's resistance had now been broken but unfortunately the lights failed and that was the end of another entertaining game.

Heysham Atoms: Hope, Birkitt, Cambidge, Brooks, Freedman, Walker, Helme, McVernon, Gregory, Woods, Aldren, Hall, Hartlebury. Res: Shaw, Walker, Pike, Holmes.