Heysham Atoms 32-12 Haydock Warriors

Heysham Atoms beat league leaders Haydock Warriors 32-12 at the weekend in their North West Men's Premier League clash.
Jamie Cottle breaks clear to score.Jamie Cottle breaks clear to score.
Jamie Cottle breaks clear to score.

The Atoms took the lead when scrum half Jamie Cottle slipped away from his markers to open up the scoring after 18 minutes which was converted by Billy Livingstone.

Haydock were dangerous when going wide and only a couple of forward passes preventing them from making more of a dent into the Atoms defensive line.

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The Atoms drew confidence from their solid defending and their attack began to flourish.

Stand off Lacey was able to apply more pressure with well placed kicks that were keenly chased by Joe Harrison and the rest of his side.

As another error was forced in the tackle it was captain Jamie Cottle who showed his undoubted turn of pace, reacting the quickest to score his second of the afternoon.

Strong running by the Atoms forwards was creating gaps out wide as more defenders were required to deal with the threat down the middle.

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A slick handling play created an opportunity on the right as Stuart Lacey, Cottle and Dan Helme combined to send centre Dan Ginocchio into the attack.

He got himself through the line then cut inside the covering defenders to score under the posts for a popular try.

Jack Edmondson made it 20-0 at the break scoring a long range try that started in his own half and ended under the posts at the far end of the ground.

Half time came at the wrong time for the Atoms as they lost the momentum and the second period of 40 minutes was a lot tighter than the first.

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The St Helens side opened their second half account on the first set of six from the re-start, kicking behind the Atoms line where their winger dotted down in the left corner.

Liam Hall has always been a potent weapon close to the line and he restored the Atoms’ dominance with a typical try that was just impossible to stop.

Width was the key to Haydock’s next attack, stretching the Atoms and scoring again wide out on the left as they showed that they weren’t going to give up their unbeaten run without a real fight.

Lacey forced a goal line drop out and Liam Hall crashed onto another short ball going very close to scoring his second.

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With 15 minutes remaining Cottle put the contest to bed completing his hat-trick of tries as he again picked up a loose ball and out sprinted the cover on a lung bursting 70 metre dash for the line.

Haydock finished off the scoring in the closing minutes this time down their right wing in what was a thoroughly entertaining game for the large crowd to appreciate.

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