December 13th, 2008
Orrell St James 31
Heysham Atoms 12

The Heysham Atoms slipped to their second home league defeat of the season to an experienced Orrell St James side from Wigan.  A poor first forty minutes was the downfall of the side as too many needless penalties were conceded and a lack of ball control just meant that the Atoms played most of the half in their own end of the field.  The second half was for more competative as a few subtle changes were made at half time and the Atoms actually won this period by 6 points to 5.  Unfortunately the damage had been done and the two league points belonged to the Wigan side.  The Atoms were further hampered going down to 12 players for the final quarter, after abrasive prop forward Liam Hall was red carded for leading with the elbow whilst carrying the ball into a tackle.  Rather than hampering the side it galvanised the Atoms players and the final quarter was probably their best period in the game.

The first 1 minutes was a tight affair as both packs were trying each other out down the middle of the park.  Orrell looked comfortable with their defensive pattern soomething that the Atoms struggled with especially close to the line.  Orrell's stand off was the main dictator of play and the Atoms rarely put him under pressure especially when kicking for territory.  The Atoms conceded a soft try close to the line which gave Orrell a 6 - nil head start.  Another 6 points soon followed as the Wigan outfit gained a comfortable lead.  The first real Atoms attack involved Liam Hall breaking down the Atoms left wing.  He found Mike Holmes in space who raced 40 metres only to be dropped by a good defensive tackle from Orrell's full back.  The Atoms pressed hard but didn't show enough patience and the ball was spilled.  Two more Orrell scores seemed far too easy with second one being a good handling move that involved most of the three quarters but straightforward in its execution.  This meant the Atoms were 20 points to nil down with 30 minutes played.

Callum Hall was doing his best to inspire his side running down every Wigan attacker and chasing hard on every kick.  Nathan Tait looked dangerous in the centres but the ball just didn;t seem to get to him often enough.  A speculative cross field kick from stand off Neil Walker brought the Atoms on to the scoreboard.  Orrell's full back misjudged the high kick and Josh O'Donnell reacted the quickest pouncing on the bobbling ball for his first try of the season.  Billy Livingstone converted for the two extra points.

Stuart Lacey has begun to find his feet in the Atoms side and his defensive side has been solid and effective and it was no surprise to see him named in the man of the match places at the end of the contest. 

Orrell scored just before the break again from close range which upset the coaching staff and players alike.

Half-time 6:26 to Orrell St James

The second half was far more like the Atoms of this season - defending their line and looking far more penetrative in attack.  Tait moved up to stand-off and his dynamic, all action style of play adds something to the Atoms attacks.  Mark Walker came more and, more into the game making excellent yards around the rucks.  A whistle-happy referee contrinued to "cane" the atoms and they conceeded seven penalties in a 10 minute period that had the coaching staff pulling what little hair they have out.

Having said that the Atoms defense looked a lot firmer and organised and this weight of possession was repelled by some resolute defending especially Daniel Ginnochio and Dan Scanlon.  Billy Livingstone and Gavin Winder were given plenty to do with some accurate kicking from Orrell's stand off.  They both stood up to the pressure clearing their lines well and allowing their forwards some breathing space.  A sweeping Atoms attack saw Callum Hall just tackled into touch close to the corner flaf and Mark Walker and Rob Shaw were both held up over the line.  Whereas in the first half the pressure was released the Atoms looked a lot more composed and it was the hard working scrum half Keith Hartlebury who forced his way over showing great strength close to the line.  Again Billy Livingstone added the conversion.

Liam Hall was red-carded and it was all hands to the pump as the Atoms team responded well.  They restricted Orrell to 2 penalty kicks and a drop-goal in the forty minutes which can only be seen as a positive.  Too many penalties and too many unforced errors in the first period are definitely areas to be worked on before a tough away trip to Dalton before the Christmas break.

Next Saturday:  League Vs Dalton Away.  Kick Off 2pm.

Atoms: B Livingstone, G Winder, N Tait, S Lacey, M Holmes, N Walker, K Hartlebury, L Hall, M Marrin, L Harvey, R Shaw, C Hall, M Walker (Capt).  Res: D McVernon, D Scanlon, J O'Donnell, D Ginnochio.