Heysham Atoms 10 - Folly Lane 10

Trys: Andy Garnet, Bryan Cambidge
Goals: Andy Garnet

Men of the Match:
1st Bryan Cambidge
2nd Keith Hartlebury
3rd Lewis Mills

The Atoms eventually got back in to action this week after a couple of weeks break due to the weather.Going away to a tough Folly Lane team in Manchester that had only lost 3 games all season was all always going to be a tough affair.

The first exchanges amongst the forwards were tough with both packs trying to gain the upperhand , Heysham had the tough task of playing against the gale force winds and this made our kicking game very difficult.
Heysham got the first break of the game when Man of the Match Bryan Cambidge got on the outside of his opposing centre and fed a great ball to Rory Batson who took the move on ,he did everything right held the ball up until he committed the Folly full back and the slipped a perfectly timed pass to the try scoring machine Andy Garnett who gratefully placed the ball over the line for the first 4 points of the day, his kick was very difficult against the wind but only just went wide.

From the restart Heysham again took the ball forward strongly and were playing the better rugby against the conditions,a half break by captain Keith Hartlebury resulted in a penalty to the Atoms after a play the ball incident,this time Garnett managed to slot over the penalty which put us into a 6-0 lead.

The conditions then took a turn for the worse with a massive hail storm. and half way through this Folly Lane made a break with the scrum half in the clear with only the laid back figure of Randall Raines to beat but once again the full back smashed the scrum half into the mud to put in another try saving tackle,but from a quick play the ball they managed to force there way over the line only to be stopped with the tackle of the game by Dave McVernon who turned the Folly player on his back so he couldn't ground the ball,but after all this effort, from the resulting scrum Folly scored under the sticks and with the conversion being successful this made the half time scores 6-6.

The second half started disastrously when 5 minutes in Dave McVernon was accused of using his elbows in a tackle and was dismissed from the field and with no forward subs on the bench it looked like a very difficult task in front of us. Shortly after this incident Folly scored again to make the score 10-6 but once again in the latter half of this season Heysham dug in deep and fought for every yard gained.

With 15 minutes remaining Lewis Mills showed what a class player he is and coasted through the Folly defense,he out paced the winger but was just caught by the full back a few yards short,he then had the experience to play the ball quickly and once again Bryan Cambidge was on hand to score a much deserved try,Andy Garnett was once again just wide with the conversion .

The last 10 minutes were a nerve racking period but Heysham held on for a 10-10 draw which was a fantastic result away from home against one of the better sides in the division,and I am sure the Atoms will be full of confidence when they face Folly again at Trimpell in a few weeks time.

ATOMS: A. Raines, S. Ledwick, B. Cambidge, A. Batson, A. Garnet, L. Mills, K. Hartlebury, D. McVernon, G. Sykes, C. Helme, G. Helliwell, M. Allen, A. Aldren. Subs: G. Winder, R. Birkett, N. Walker, A.N.Other

Heysham Atoms 10 - Folly Lane 10

Heysham Atoms, normally so travel sick south of Forton services, earned a late 10-10 draw at Folly Lane (Swinton) on Saturday.

The Atoms got off to a bright start on a frigid day playing down a muddy slope, but into driving hail. Within ten minutes quick ball from an attacking scrum freed Cambidge who combined well with Batson to release the livewire Garnett into the right corner for his 17th try of the season. A penalty midway through the half brought the Atoms into the break 6-2 in front after soaking up a sustained assault from the big Folly forwards. Coach Dave Crow asked for more hard work from veteran forwards Mark Allen, Gavin Helliwell and Andy Aldren.

At the start of a more clement second half the Folly Lane winger broke clear to be met by a Dave McVernon high tackle. After his dismissal the tiring Heysham defensive line was battered for the next twenty minutes, and the Atoms, with no forward substitutes, showed great tenacity to only go down 10-6 during this onslaught.

With ten minutes to go the atoms were looking at a long journey home but a 50-yard break from the elusive Butler set up the tying score from the workaholic Cambidge. The Portrait Pools- sponsored Atoms held on in a fraught finale to take a much-needed point into Saturdays relegation 4-pointer with Burtonwood Bridge.(Trimpell, 230 pm).