Heysham Atoms 22 - Leigh Miners 46
- North West Counties Division Four

A BIG improvement was needed after last week's disappointment at Leigh East and in some parts this was achieved.

The Atoms upped their game when in possession but when they are asked to defend they showed there is still a great deal of work to be done.

They started brightly enough completing all of their six sets in the opening exchanges. Rob Shaw continued where he left off last week carting the ball up well and putting his team on the front foot.
Completing the sets as they did always saps the energy and Dave McVernon made a 20-yard burst for the line only to be brought up short, not for the last time.

Andy Aldren fed Keith Hartlebury and he in turn found centre Andy Helme. He dropped the shoulder, feigned the pass and cut back inside the Leigh's defence to go over for the Atoms' first score, which Austin converted.
This was reward for sticking to the coach's orders and building pressure through respect for the ball. The Atoms maintained the intensity and pushed deep into Leigh territory.

Hardworking loose forward Pete Livingstone got the ball away out of the tackle close to the line but was penalised for releasing after the referee had called held.

This gave Leigh a chance to clear their lines and give themselves a bit of breathing space. Their steady attacks seemed to be well-marshalled but they were now completing their sets.
They tried the 'bomb' on the last on a couple of occasions, but full-back Gavin Winder fielded everything with authority.

A handling error on the Atoms' next possession saw them give the ball up too easily on halfway.
An attack down the Atoms' left looked to have been well covered until Leigh's centre ran an excellent line enticing both centre and wing into the tackle. Once both were committed he threw out a great pass to the unmarked winger who went in at the corner.

The concentration levels dipped alarmingly and the Atoms' unforced errors came thick and fast. Firstly Leigh's kicker was taken out late, then two defenders got drawn to the same man and a dropped ball on the first tackle straight from an Atoms penalty.

All these errors were punished with scores leaving the Atoms trailing at the break by 20-6.
After such an impressive start, the disappointment was there for all to see but it showed how good Leigh were at taking their chances.

Mike Holmes again lifted proceedings after the break with his acceleration away from the rucks, but sloppy defending again further dented the confidence of a fragile-looking Atoms defence.
Neil Walker came on at first receiver and a change of tactics saw the Atoms play with some real expanse, moving the ball at every opportunity.

Hartlebury benefited from Walker's pass and launched some good attacks.
The Atoms got within striking distance and after a few goes at crashing over from short range, prop Liam Hall showed them how it should be done crashing over for a converted try.
The Atoms found themselves on a roll and were using McVernon in the left and centre channels. He always looked dangerous with ball in hand and was tackled agonisingly close a couple of times.
Finally the Leigh defence could hold out no longer and McVernon forced his way over bringing the Atoms to within 10 points at 16-26.

This is where the Atoms should and could have kicked on – had it not been for another bout of poor defending.
One-on-one tackles were missed in vital areas and the Leigh support runners were always on hand, showing good awareness and anticipation to convert the chances into tries.
Three quick-fire tries were scored in this miserable period for the Heysham side as the game was taken away from them.

At this point last week the heads would have been down and probably resulted in more Leigh scores but they regained possession and continued to attack with width.
This attitude was a definite positive from the game and winger Jo Pyrah was unlucky not to add to the score just losing possession close to the line after a kick had bounced back off a Leigh player's leg.
The Atoms kept the ball in the right areas and pressure was maintained as Hartlebury linked back to the narrow side finding Dave McVernon. He hit the ball at pace taking him over for his second try of the afternoon.
Ollie Austin took his third successful conversion leaving the Atoms still searching for their first league points of the season.

Heysham Atoms: G Winder, M MacIntyre, O Austin, A Helme, S Jackson, S Telford, K Hartlebury, D McVernon, A Aldren, L Hall, R Shaw, G Helliwell, P Livingstone. Res: M Holmes, J Pyrah, S Weed, N Walker.

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