Above: more pictures by Bob Shaw

A weekend to forget for the Yellows as both our First Team and Reserves crashed to defeat in their respective divisions in the West Cheshire League.

The Firsts welcomed Mossley Hill Athletic FC to Gayton Park. Billed as preseason favourites to take the league title this season, Mossley Hill have struggled to live up to the hype, sitting in fourth place prior to the game. Our own inconsistent form lent this contest a feeling of 'anything can happen'.

The visitors started the better side and took a deserved lead early on, setting the tone for the game as two further goals gave them a comfortable cushion into the second half.

With Joe Sephton leading the charge from our backline with some clever balls and probing passes, we started to create a few chances and, following a fine cross from Nathan Johnston, a late run from skipper Scott Connolly was finished with a great volley to grab us a goal and some hope going into the last quarter of the game.

Scott has stepped into the captain's role for much of this season due to an injury to Club Captain Christian Lewis, leading from the front and showing his value to the team with a string of good performances and weighing in with three goals.

Despite an improvement in performance and some good attacking play, we couldn't get a second goal to really put the pressure on and the visitors held on to take a deserved 3–1 victory to put them back in the mix at the top of the table - while we sit in 11th place after a challenging start to life back in the First Division.

Our Reserve team travelled up the M53 to face Ellesmere Port Town Reserves and, in an example of Murphy's Law, whatever could go wrong, did go wrong!

Defensive errors were ruthlessly punished and we didn't compete as we know we can. The end result was a 5 – 1 defeat with the ever reliable Dan O'Halloran netting our consolation with his ninth goal of the season, a fine return from a fine player who scored 14 last season - so he's well on his way to beating his season best of last year.

Ever keen to engage with the local business community, and also eager to expand our social reach, we are currently looking for new sponsors. We invite any local companies to get in touch to discuss how we can help with your advertising at Heswall FC.

We are also currently open to discussion with local community groups who may require a venue for their activities. Our clubhouse is a clean, warm, engaging and inviting space that can be utilised in all sorts of ways. It is also very reasonably priced with ample parking. If we can support your community group then please get in touch with me, Club Chairman Robbie Matthews, on [email protected].