St Helen's Vine 42- Heysham Atoms 0

THE TWO crucial victories against Burtonwood and Latchford Albion certainly took their toll with eight Atoms players being unable to make the trip to St Helens due to injury.

The Vine lie second in the league and look favourites to claim the other promotion spot alongside Hindley. They have only had their colours lowered by Hindley twice and Oldham St Annes and they were determined not to let their impressive record slip against a very inexperienced Heysham side.

The first 20 minutes of any game are crucial and set the tone for the rest of the game. In this period the Atoms were blown away with some outstanding handling and support play, making a mockery of the terrible conditions. The Atoms never recovered from this terrible start and always looked vulnerable when the play was spread wider of the rucks.

Pete Simpson on the Atoms right wing was making his first start of the season, after making a number of impressive spells from the bench.
He must have thought the St Helens' side was picking on him as every attack was instigated down his wing. It was one of those days for the St Helens team when everything seemed to stick, but there was always an option to pass, which was a credit to the way they approached their game.

The Atoms' completion rate was right up there but their attacks lacked the cutting edge of the St Helens team. A kick is only as good as its chase and on a number of occasions the chase left a lot to be desired. A goal line drop out was forced from one such kick and that could be said to be the only period of attacking pressure that the Atoms had in the first period.

The Atoms' defensive line was put under a lot of pressure and although they scrambled hard to get into position to tackle, the St Helens players seemed to have enough power to break through the initial contact. Six tries were conceded - four in the first 20 minutes - five of which were converted giving the half-time score of 34-0 to the Vine.

The Atoms had to regroup and re-think their tactics and decided that although they were holding the ball well they must play a bit more off the cuff and throw caution to the wind. They knew they were struggling defensively and thought the best form of defence was attack. The error rate began to creep up but the second half was far more competitive and gave their supporters more to cheer about.

Aldren and Brooks at the base of the scrum took on a lot of responsibility for setting up an attacking platform and Helme and Hope benefited from this instigating a number of attacks. Woods and McVernon made half breaks and looked threatening when put into space. Penalties were now being spread wider bringing Richardson and Allan more and more into the game.

One break from the fullback put the Atoms within striking range. An initial charge from Woods continued by veteran Gary Butler just came up short and this was the closest the Atoms came to troubling the scorers.

Kevin Mills came on to make his debut for the final 20 minutes taking the ball up well and putting himself about the field in defence. The Atoms restricted the St Helens side to two tries in the second period which showed a massive improvement in the Atoms' defence. Everyone understood their responsibilities and carved them out to the best of their agility.

The final 10 minutes of the game were shrouded in controversy when Dave McVernon was sent from the field of play after a challenge in the midfield was adjudged to have been head high, when it appeared no contact had been made. This made the Atoms' task even more difficult but they rode it out until the final whistle.

ATOMS: Richardson, Simpson, Jones, Hope (C), Birkitt, A Helme, Brooks, McVernon, Gregory, Woods, C Helme, Allan, Aldren. Reserves: Mills, Butler.