Latchford Albion win away from home again

HEYSHAM ATOMS 20 LATCHFORD ALBION 22
LATCHFORD Albion secured their second successive away win with a hard fought victory over a very physical Heysham side.
The long journey seemed to have no effect on Albion, who started the game strongly, and they opened the scoring early on when stand off Chris Griffiths showed great skill in scoring a fine solo try, selling a dummy to his opposite number  and having enough pace to race under the posts, George Briggs converting.
Heysham showed they were up for the challenge and soon levelled with a converted try. Shortly after the hosts took the lead with a well worked try.
It could have got worse for Albion when, following a loose pass, Heysham raced 80 yards and only wing Owen Nugent’s fantastic tackle, where he dislodged the ball putting an end to a dangerous break, kept Latchford from falling further behind.
This was rewarded shortly after when Adam Wood ran a great line and Briggs had the vision to find him with a cut out pass and , with Briggs converting, Latchford led at half time 10-12.
After the interval, an early try by the hosts saw them edge back in front however this was short lived as a great kick by Briggs was collected by Lewis Johnston to cross near to the posts.
With Albion on the front foot, the forwards began to dominate, with Chris Nicholas making some great yards allowing Albion’s back the freedom to play, which Griffiths took full advantage of to register his second try, with Briggs converting, allowing Latchford to lead by two scores.
A late Heysham try left a nervous end to the game but the visitors held on for a fantastic victory to climb up to sixth place in the table.
Albion: Hickman, Nugent, Birchall, Wadsworth, Mather, Griffiths, Briggs, Nicholas, Woolacott, Unsworth, Wood, Jones-Lake, Johnston, Fleming, Mcguineess, Long, Patterson.
Coach Lee Smith said: “Over the last few weeks the commitment levels have increased massively, with numbers at training up by 50 per cent. This is a fantastic commitment from the players, and has resulted in being able to implement the structures, alongside fellow coach Dave Yii, which has seen us progress every week. Our last two games have both been away to established Premier Division sides and we have come away with two victories. Again it shows we can compete at this level and this squad is getting better with each game. Again we have players who made their debut this weekend and they have proven to be valuable assets to the team and we are in a good place right now. We just need to continue this momentum and we will be a force to be reckoned with.”
Latchford’s next home game is Saturday May 6 when a feast of rugby is on offer with three games being played at Victoria Park Arena. Firstly Warrington under 19 host Castleford. Albion will debut their Alliance side when they welcome Flinsthire Falcons before the first team host Widnes West Bank.
Any players interested in joining either the Alliance or first team are welcome to contact the club via its designated twitter and Facebook pages where they will be made welcome.