Heysham Atoms 12-50 Widnes West Bank Bears

Heysham Atoms had a tough away trip to champions Widnes at the weekend and were taught some harsh lessons in how to dictate the pace of a game and how to bully the opposition into submission.
Heysham Atoms' Callum Hall.Heysham Atoms' Callum Hall.
Heysham Atoms' Callum Hall.

The opening half was a physical but yet low key affair where the Atoms were quite literally beaten to the punch as they struggled to come to terms with lack of space and room.

The first score had an air of inevitability about it as the hosts burst through a couple of half hearted tackles which allowed the home hooker to stroll over the line.

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The second Widnes try came on the back of two offloads right down the middle of the park as the Atoms defenders failed to lock the ball in the tackle.

At 12-0 down the Atoms finally got to the right end of the field with Callum Hall and Andrew Collins lifting the tempo. Jamie Cottle showed a piece of individual brilliance as he placed the perfect kick behind the Widnes posts and backed himself with his acceleration to win the race for the touchdown.

This was the last play of the half and although the Atoms were quite fortunate to still be in touching distance they had something to play for in the second half.

The positive feel at the half time break was almost immediately knocked out of them as the Widnes side scored two tries in the opening five minutes of the half to give them a commanding 24-6 lead.

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Although limited for space both Jack Lawton and Michael Forrest took on their opposite numbers but both ended up scragged to touch with some illegal dragging that ended up going unpunished.

The discipline of both sides came into question and at one point they were both operating with only 11 players either side.

This meant there were gaps all over the place and it was West Bank who took full advantage of this. They scored three more tries to take them over the 40 point mark.

The second half territory was all in the Widnes side’s favour until Jake Harrison finally broke the shackles and broke down the middle of the park to take the Atoms within 20 metres of the West Bank line.

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Stand off Jamie Cottle attacked across the face of the West Bank defensive line picking up Callum Hall on an excellent line to break through and score his second try of the season. Michael Forrest added the goal for the second time in the game.

Winger Jack Lawton nearly got away chasing hard on to a well placed Dan Helme kick but was denied close to the corner flag.

The last two tries of the game showed how tired and somewhat frail the Atoms defensive line had become with some poor defending.