Keighley Albion 28 - Heysham Atoms 10
National Cup round one

The National Cup always provides a nice distraction to the week-to-week grind of the league season with the chance to play some different teams.

This year's contest pitched the Atoms against a Keighley Albion side that ply their trade in the Pennine Premier Division, the equivalent of five leagues above the Atoms.
The Atoms certainly weren't overawed by the prospect and decided to go and enjoy the occasion and give it their best shot – which they more than did.

The pitch could be best described as uneven with the corners at one end raising above the rest of the pitch, similar to the Odsal pitch in Bradford.
Unfortunately this is were the similarity ended and provided the home side with a distinct advantage.
The pitch played its part in the first Keighley score when the scrum-half kicked through on the third tackle.
The ball hit the raised corner and bounced straight into the chasing Keighley player's arms – 4-0 to local knowledge.

The Atoms had contributed to their poor start by failing to complete their first five possessions.
A positional change brought Helme into the hooking role allowing Holmes and Hartlebury to play one pass further out.
This moved seemed to settle the team down and they began to complete their sets.
The Atoms drew level on the 15-minute mark when Cambidge and then Birkett took play to within 10 metres of Albion's line.
The attack changed to the narrow side with Shane Weed smashing over his marker to place the ball over the line.
A late tackle on Brian Cambidge sparked an all-in brawl and once order had been restored the Atoms found themselves down to 11 with two in the bin and Albion down to 12.
The lack of players increased the space which suited Albion far better, possessing a fast set of young outside backs.

A mix-up in defence at a play-the-ball gifted Albion their next score, which was quickly followed by another try utilising the space well on their right wing.
The Atoms had to regroup and they sensibly played out the rest of sin-binning time keeping possession and running the clock down until they were back to a full compliment.
One sweeping attack down the right was stopped on the 20-metre line. The next sweep of Atoms attackers came onto the ball at pace and were unlucky when the final pass to winger Martin Pike was just behind him with the line at his mercy.

This move showed good intent and gave the Atoms further confidence and belief that they could actually snatch something.
Jim Hamilton came on at the break for his second outing of the season, and looked lively in attack and solid in defence.
The early pressure from Albion stretched the Atoms but they were able to hold out and gain some territory of their own.

The tactic of using the narrow side was beginning to pay off with centre Ollie Austin making a couple of clean breaks but Albion scrambled well and snuffed out the attacks.
The pace livened up and it was difficult for the Atoms to hold on. The hits began to lack the intensity of the first period, giving Albion some easy yards on the front foot.

Albion capitalised on a retreating Atoms line with their left centre sliding in for this second try of the afternoon, taking them into a 22-4 lead, with a quarter of the game remaining.
Albion sensed they could push on from here and confirm their superiority but the Atoms really dug in and found some energy in the reserve stocks.

Dave McVernon found his running legs after a scuffle with Albion's hooker seemed to jump start his game.
Again Helme intelligently used the blind side finding Hall running at Albion's scrum-half.
The match up was too much in Hall's favour as he scored in his seventh consecutive game, quite a run of form for a front-rower.

Hartlebury nearly got Cambidge away and Birkett went close but this proved to be the last of Atoms' clear-cut chances.
With 10 minutes remaining, coach Dave Crow threw on 16-year-old Dean Marston for his club debut. The eagerness and commitment was there for all to see and certainly he is going to be a player for the future.
As the gloom descended Albion put the final nail in the coffin with a try wide out on the left.
This wasn't the final action though as McVernon rounded off his game with two bone-crunchers in a spirited Atoms display.

Heysham Atoms: Winder, J Pyrah, Austin, Cambidge, Pike, Helme, Hartlebury (capt), Holmes, McVernon, Weed, Livingstone, Shaw, Birkett. Res: Hall, E Pyrah, Hamilton, Marston.

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