The Heysham Atoms steady rise up the League table continued at the Trimpell on Saturday with their fourth win in five games.

The Atoms edged a 10-try thriller with the kicking of Billy Livingstone and Neil Walker proving the deciding factor to the final outcome.

This victory was a massive turnaround from last season as Dalton won both encounters relatively easily.

Coach Dave Crow probably had his most difficult selection of the team for the last couple of seasons as he had virtually a full, healthy squad to pick from.

Into the side came Australian Nathen Tait, who comes highly rated from last season's Atoms coach Scott Saddler. He has just finished his season down under playing for the Gungahlin Bulls in the Canberra competition where he won the player of the season and represented the Canberra District.

His inclusion into the squad adds further competition to places that saw two new Cumbrian recruits – Dan Scanlon and Stuart Lacey – keep their places in the squad of 17.

The team entered the game full of confidence after good preparation in the week and pre-match had got them in the right frame of mind.

Unfortunately for the Atoms, the optimism took a severe dent as Dalton came out of the blocks the sharper, scoring early after some less than convincing Heysham defending.

The early exchanges became a bit of an arm wrestle as both packs looked for the midfield dominance.

Hooker Mike Marrin's good distribution and sniping runs were starting to get his side on the front foot as the Atoms go forward began to kick in.

Callum Hall, in the second row, opened the game in his usual lively manner, being available for work at every opportunity in attack and defence.

An attack down Dalton's right wing involved most of the Atoms back division and it was full-back Guy Richardson who rounded off the move.

The Atoms felt part of the game now and were showing a good structure to their play, especially coming away from their end of the field.

Dalton have been one of the top scoring teams in the league and their free-flowing style was in evidence as the Atoms lost concentration on one play and they were put under pressure and paid the ultimate price conceding their second try.

Captain Mark Walker was at his industrious best, inspiring his troops to play at a high intensity. A further attack down the favoured left wing gave winger Stuart Lacey his first try in Atoms colours.

The ex-Wath Brow Hornets player finished off another smart move that opened up the narrow side. A concerted effort close to Dalton's line was only interrupted by needless Atoms penalties as Dalton were allowed to clear the danger zone.

Losing 12-8 at the break, the Atoms turned around with the strong breeze at their backs and were hopeful of overturning the four-point deficit.

When the coach makes changes from the bench, he is looking for an impact and a lifting of the intensity levels and this he got from all substitutes.

Tait livened proceedings up with the speed at which he is used to playing the game at and the three forwards – Josh O'Donnell, Dave McVernon and Dan Scanlon – carried out their instructions to the letter.

The Atoms put back-to-back sets together after Keith Hartlebury had pinned Dalton back with some intelligent kicking. Richardson made a searing break down the right centre channel before releasing Mark Walker to finish off the move scoring under the posts.

This was the Atoms at their most dominant and they made this pressure tell scoring another try and penalty in quick succession.

The try came after a Livingstone break and a well-executed offload from the robust Liam Hall. On the end of the offload was Tait who showed great determination to get over the line for a debut try.

With a Neil Walker converted penalty this gave the Atoms a healthy 22-12 lead.

The Atoms took their foot off the gas allowing Dalton to hit back with two tries of their own as the Atoms discipline slipped. Too many penalties at the wrong end of the field had the nerves jangling as the Atoms held onto a slender two-point lead.

A Mike Marrin try close to the line – his third of the season - and an outstanding Callum Hall cover tackle settled the issue.

Despite another Dalton try, the Atoms claimed the two points and can now look forward to more hard work as they make progress towards fulfilling their potential.

Heysham Atoms: G Richardson, S Lacey, B Livingstone, S Weed, G Winder, N Walker, K Hartlebury, L Hall, M Marrin, L Harvey, R Shaw, C Hall, M Walker Res: D McVernon, D Scanlon, N Tait, J O'Donnell. 18th man: Harry Pinner

* Atoms winger/full-back Gavin Winder played his 150th game for the club, having progressed into the first team from the Atoms Under 16s side.