Heysham Atoms Vs Pilkingtons (St. Helens)

Lancashire Cup First Round

This competition has historically been an unsucessful one for the Atoms and when the revised draw came through it was evident that their look wasn't about to change.  On the first draft of the draw it was Higginshaw (Oldham) from Division 5 who were the expected opponents.  The draw was changed and the Atoms were given a daunting trip to Pilkingtons from St. Helens.  They ply their trade 4 Divisions Higher than the Atoms and to put the task into perspective pilkingtons 'A' play in the same league as the Heysham side.  With last years winners Blackbrook and National Cup holders Simms Cross banned from this years competition it was Pilkingtons who took on the mantle of Cup favourites.

A young and inexperienced Atoms side missing eight senior players were given a harsh lesson in open free flowing football that never relented through the full 80 minutes. Although only the eternal optomist would have predicted an upset it was very disheartening at the ease at which pilkingtons were allowed to cross the whitewash and unceremoniously dump the Atoms out of this competition for another season.  The defensive frailties of the Atoms were there for all to see but pilkington's pace across the park from 1 to 17 caught the eye something that the Atoms just couldn't live with.  The massive holes left by the retirement of Aldren, Cambidge and Bryan Graham have yet to be filled  epecially in the defensive department of the game. The young charges are going to have to learn and learn quickly in this harsh, take no prisoners world of Rugby League.

The first half turned into a steady procession of pilkington tries that just seemed to drain all confidence in the Atoms side.  During a normal game a side can expect to receive between 25 and 30 times possesion of the ball. This figure for the Atoms on Saturdays game was a mere 13 such was the dominance of the pilkinton side. When in possesion the Atoms made good yards compleating 65% of these sets which is a big improvement on the previous week. The Atoms forced 2 goal line drop outs and went close to the line on a number of occasions but they just couldn't find the clinical finishing pass as there opponents could. Full back Guy richardson was as brave as ever when faced with overwhelming odds in terms of runners facing him.  He could still find the srength to hit the ball up over 10 times sharing the work load with his fellow forwards.  17 year old Jamie Harper, a former prodct of the Atoms juniors, made his senior debut on the wing and although this is unlikely to be his favoured position he made a good fist of it in difficult circumstances.

Gary Lithgow and Mark Walker were again the stand out players for the Atoms mainly for their defensive duties ably assisted by the veteren trio of Livingstone, Helliwell and Helme.  Josh O'Donnell slogged his guts out for the team as did lee Harvey in the second row without any real reward for their efforts.
The Atoms got the biggest cheer of the day constructing a well worked try.  Some good hands down the right centre channel saw Billy Livingstone put winger Jo Pyrah over squeezing in at the corner for his forth career try.

Hopefully the scars of a heavy defeat will not lie too deep and they must get themselves back up for next weeks tough away trip to Ince Rose Bridge in the league. With a host of senior players coming back into contention for a place in the side for next Saturday the Atoms can wipe their mouths and move on.

Regards
Andy Helme

Heysham Atoms: G.Richardson, M.MacIntyre, S.Graham, B.Livingstone, J.Harper, N.Walker, A.Helme, S.Weed, G.Lithgow, J.O'Donnell, R.Shaw, L.Harvey, M.Walker, G.Helliwell, P.Livingstone, C.Helme, J.Pyrah.

Wow! the pace of 1st division in England is a lot quicker than I expected it would be after watching 4 games of 3 rd division whilst I have been in England . The pace of the game is about the same pace as country NSW Rugby League in Australia and it was quite refreshing to see the free flowing non bash and barge open style rugby league the way it should be played.

The Heysham Atoms were certainly out of their depth in all aspects of rugby league and it was a daunting task to ask a team that was missing 7 regular starters to compete against a talented St. Helens outfit.

Again, I must harp on about our fitness and how it is hampering our overall ability to be able to progress forward with our vision and to be able to compete at various levels throughout the Northern districts.

After the game I discussed with the team that although there were not many positives as a coach I could find throughout the stats, but we needed as a team to be able to find some during the week, understand our mistakes, learn from them and move forward.

The Atoms only had the ball for 13 sets which is a long way from the average of 28 that sides normally attain throughout a game; along with over 60 missed tackles most contests with these figures would be very lopsided. Only a hand full of Atoms players were capable of taking this giant step up 3 divisions and played as if they could have handles themselves in most 1st division teams, the rest of the players were completely bamboozled with the ease of which a rugby league team can dispose of another when totally skilled in all facets of the game.

Some players on Saturday were disillusioned with the result and discussed after the match why we would take such a leap forward and be pounded so considerably, my answer was that the Atoms team needed to understand how a good team plays rugby league and hopefully use this experience as some of their direction in the ensuing weeks and months to move forward.

Gary Lithgow with 38 tackles, and Mark Walker with 35 tackled all day and without these boys it would have been much worse.

Guy...at fullback showed grit and determination in taking the ball up 10 times when our forwards were weary and showed good direction in defence when it would have looked like t times the flood gates had opened.

In any sport that is played between two competitive teams sometimes you are going to be on a team that has been beaten comprehensively, it is not about running and hiding from this experience but to understand as a team and as individuals how we can improve and grow as a unit.

Till next week GO THE ATOMS