Heysham Atoms 10 - Latchford Albion 24

THE Atoms picked up where they left off last week against Oldham St Annes but unfortunately this good form only lasted till half-time in this North West Counties Challenge Cup first round tie against league rivals Latchford from Warrington.
The second half was a big disappointment but even then the result was in doubt until the final 10 minutes when Latchford pulled away with a try and penalty.
The Atoms began brightly with the forwards trying to stamp their authority around the all important ruck area. The return of veteran Brian Gregory, to the hooking role, gave the Atoms an organisation that was all important.
Latchford are renowned for their big aggressive pack with a couple of centres that wouldn't look out of place in the front row. Their direct style of play suits them well with the Atoms defenders having their work cut out to stem the tide.
they did and the early signs were good, but against the run of play an unforced Atoms error gave the scrum feed to Latchford.
The first receiver from the scrum got past the Atoms defender and galloped 30 metres to the line. This made the Atoms realise that any little slip could be very costly.
The Atoms strived to get some good field position with Aldren and Shaw well to the fore.
A good kick and chase on the last tackle made the full back fumble the ball.
Then it was a straight race between Latchford's full-back and Rob Shaw as to who would ground the ball. As the ball took a wicked bounce Rob Shaw just knocked on and the chance was gone.
They maintained this pressure and made the territorial advantage count after Hope and Hartlebury had combined to put last weeks hero - Ian Woods - away on the left wing.
He was held up just short but was able to offload to the supporting Brian Gregory who grounded the ball for the Atoms first try of the afternoon. Hope converted.
The Atoms were now in their most dominant period of the game a and again after some great yardage gains from the forwards they found themselves in striking distance of Latchford Lane.
An exquisitely timed move along the three-quarters, instigated by Mike Hope, saw full-back Guy Richardson glide into a huge hole and stride over the line, unopposed, for his first try of the season. The conversion failed but the Atoms had a deserved 10-6 lead.
Richardson then delivered the goods at the other end with a try saving tackle but dragged his man in to touch as well. Latchford were now forcing the issue and another missed tackle put the Atoms defenders into disarray.
Latchford's scrum-half took advantage of this confusion and squeezed in at the corner flag on the bell of half time. The conversion failed, making it level pegging at the break.
The Atoms made a couple of changes at the break but these both backfired shortly after the restart. Elliot Pyrah limped off after five minutes and then Gavin Halliwell left the action shortly after with a broken nose.
Latchford took the lead shortly after when an impressive offload in the tackle by Latchford's prop forward opened up the Atoms defence. This seemed to knock the wind out of the Atoms sails with the form of the Heysham side deteriorating as the game wore on.
Too many unforced errors continually gave the advantage back to the Warrington outfit. The overworked Atoms back three of Woods, Pike and Richardson were having to field the ball mostly in their own quarter instead of at the other end of the field.
The Atoms only trailed by six points for the majority of the second half but the forward dominance and the shape in the backs had deserted them. Helme, Cambidge and Allan were willing runners but the width and depth of the attacks were missing.
The final quarter was an undisciplined, niggly affair with the referee having a job to keep a lid on things and the Atoms never really ,looked like prizing open the Latchford defence.
As the game approached the final whistle Latchford reinforced their dominance of the second half with a converted try a and a penalty to put them into round two.

ATOMS: Richardson, Pike, Woods, Allan, Cambidge, Hope, Helme, McVernon, Aldren, Gregory, Bowman, Shaw, Hartlebury. Res: Helliwell, Pyrah.