Chequerfield Rangers 44 - Heysham Atoms 6
National Cup first round

THIS was always going to be a tough encounter for the travelling Atoms and although they put up a spirited performance they were well beaten in the end.

With 60 minutes played the Atoms were still in the game at 16-6, but the vast amount of defensive work began to take its toll. The strength had been sapped and tackles that should have been made were now being missed.
Chequerfield's three-quarters contained some real pace and had been well marshalled by the Atoms side, but given this extra space they rounded off the game, in the final quarter, with four converted tries, all from long distance.
Elliott Pyrah's promotion to the starting line-up has certainly given him the confidence to play to his potential, tackling himself to a standstill and being the first to take the ball up into a strong Chequerfield defence.
He was quite rightly adjudged man of the match by the opposition and his fellow team members recognised his undoubted ability.
The game couldn't have got off to a worse start for the Atoms, as they spilled the kick-off giving Chequerfield head and feed at the scrum.
The loose forward picked up at the base, ran across the face of the Atoms line and found his centre running a straight line.
A confused Atoms back division watched as he placed the ball over the line unchallenged.
When in possession the Atoms showed that they could keep the ball and although not making many inroads, they were able to kick and chase well, forcing a couple of goal line drop outs.
The Chequerfield side tried to knock the Atoms out of their stride with some bully-boy tactics but they weren't going to roll over and die.
Eye-to-eye contact was made on more than one occasion with Chequerfield's centre, Roid, who pushed his luck all afternoon.
Clean breaks by the Atoms were few and far between as they were well policed by a solid defensive line. Mike Holmes made a break down the right wing and Russell Birkett picked up a loose ball and charged 60 metres downfield, but neither could be turned into points.
A handling error from a high kick presented Chequerfield with their second score which was followed up immediately with their third try.
The Atoms had struggled down the middle of the park and decided to play a bit more of an expansive game after the break and this paid off almost immediately when scrum-half Keith Hartlebury finding Liam Hall in a gap scoring close to the posts.
Garnett added the extras.
Andy Garnett was not too far from the action and he came in for some unnecessary treatment, rarely picked up by the referee.
Andy Aldren worked tirelessly as Chequerfield tried to up the pace and Atoms were gaining some good field position but were beginning to struggle to contain the Chequerfield outside backs.
Brave defending by full-back Gavin Winder halted a number of attacks but the cracks were beginning to appear as they entered the final quarter.
A couple of flare-ups and a red card for Chequerfield's second row made sure the tension was maintained right until the final whistle.
The tired Atoms had given their all but the Yorkshire Premier side showed their pedigree to take the game away in the final 20 minutes.

Atoms: G Winder, N Walker, A Garnett, R Batson, M Holmes, A Helme, K Hartlebury (capt), D McVernon, A Aldren, L Hall, R Birkett, E Pyrah, S Telford.
Reserves: L Harvey, N Hoper