Above: a gallery of pictures by Bob Shaw

Cup action was the order of the day for Heswall this Saturday as both our First Team and Reserves played out semi-final ties in the Wirral District Senior and Amateur Cup competitions.

The Firsts travelled to Bidston to face Mersey Royal, our hosts sitting in second place and enjoying a stellar season, while our lads have been in fine form and boast a 100% record in the calendar year to date. It goes without saying - a competitive game was expected.

Both teams started well as the battle for supremacy began, with our midfield showing their grit and facing up to the challenge. Skipper Christian Lewis and Graham Mort showed all their fighting spirit to gradually dominate the middle of the park. A few chances were created with both goalkeepers making saves, but the whistle went for half time with the game goalless.

Into the second half and Heswall started the stronger team, but we found ourselves behind when the Royal scored to go one up. Things were to improve for us when, after some frenetic play on the edge of the Royal area, Conor Hughes was able to poke the ball home, a fine finish from a player who showed a superb work rate throughout the game and deserved his goal.

A terrific team performance was soon rewarded when the ball was played to Danny Dixon out towards the corner of the area, and he brilliantly curled the ball home into the far corner past former Heswall keeper Josh Brooks to give the Yellows a deserved lead.

Heswall continued to dominate the game and Danny Dixon came close to hitting a second on a couple occasions, and Nathan Johnston was denied a goal by a superb save from Brooks in the Royal goal after a delightful chip. The hosts kept pushing and got a reward when the ref deemed an accidental handball to be worthy of a penalty. The Royal got back on level terms when Kieran Cartwright scored from the

spot. It's been said before that our lads will fight for a win and don't know when they are beaten, and so it proved when, in the dying minutes of the game, Nathan Johnston tricked his way past two Royal defenders on the left wing and put the ball on a plate for Joe Ford to net the winner and send the Yellows into a second consecutive final in this competition. Great scenes ensued as the Heswall team and supporters savoured a fine victory. Now we look forward to facing Cammell Lairds or Ellesmere Port Town in the final in May. Congratulations to all involved with the First Team on a great achievement, and best of luck in the final. Our Reserve Team was looking to match the Firsts in reaching the final for a second year running, and welcomed Capenhurst Villa Reserves to Gayton Park. We started as the better side and got a deserved goal on half an hour when Sam Westhead cut in on his left foot before going past the defender and putting the ball into the bottom left hand corner with his right, giving the keeper no chance. The lads were keen to build on the lead and went further ahead when, from a corner that was headed out, the ball was played back in and a shot was smartly saved by the Cape keeper only for centre half Cal France to score from a tight angle with a tidy finish a striker would have been proud of. Cape showed they were up for it and got back into the game taking the score to 2 – 1 and threatening a comeback, but our lads dug in, defended resolutely, and got their reward when the impressive Travis O'Brien played a ball over the top and top scorer Dan O'Halloran ran on and coolly slotted home from 18 yards to put the seal on the result and a place in the final. After a disrupted season and a change of manager, the Reserves have shown great progress this year. The change in style of play and a different message from the new gaffer Ben Gore has helped the lads and their performances have been very good. Best of luck to them in the final against Hooton FC on Easter Monday. It's an 11am kick-off, and the venue is Ashville FC, Cross Lane, Wallasey. With our teams riding high and the big games coming week in week out, it's a great time to get involved with Heswall FC. If your company would like to get on board and support the club through sponsorship or advertising then please get in touch with me, Club Chairman Robbie Matthews, via [email protected].