News in Heswall

With our First Team having a day off this weekend, it was all eyes on our Reserves as we welcomed Champions Elect Sutton Athletic - knowing that if they took three points they would claim the Third Division title.

While we wished them well, at the same time nobody wanted to see another club celebrate at Gayton Park, so the lads were fired up to try and spoil the party.

Brackenwood golf course, described as the "jewel in the municipal crown" by one of its senior members, is set to close after 87 years.

The course, in Bebington, opened in 1935, but will close on April 1 after Wirral Council's budget saw it withdraw funding from two of its four municipal courses, Hoylake and Brackenwood.

It was a return to league action for Heswall First Team on Saturday as we welcomed Chester Nomads to Gayton Park in the 1st Division.

We started the game really well and were one up inside two minutes. Nomads tried playing out from the back, but Steve Forbes did the hard work closing down the defender and forcing the error, which allowed him to play Shay Roberts in on goal. Shay kept his cool, dummied the keeper and rolled the ball home.

Above: a gallery of pictures by Bob Shaw

In the last of a run of six away games, Heswall FC took the eight mile trip to Capenhurst Villa in the West Cheshire League Division 1 looking to put last week's Pyke Cup Semi Final defeat behind us.

Shane Warne was rightly regarded as the Einstein of cricket.

When he famously said "Monty you have played one test match 33 times", many people, not least the media, thought he was spot on.

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.

Brackenwood municipal golf course, which dates back 87 years, could shut down within months due to the council's £20 million cuts package.

However, it is understood there are bidders interested in saving the course in the nick of time.

The governing body of British Tennis said it is ready to help save the "vital" Wirral Tennis Centre where women's US Open champion Emma Raducanu once competed.

Wirral Council's current plan is to close the indoor courts at the Tennis Centre in Bidston for a year, before reopening just three of the current six courts once an upgrade has taken place.

Above: a gallery of pictures by Bob Shaw

As the local area faced the wrath of Storm Eunice this weekend, we made the short trip to Neston to face the Nomads in Division 3.

England need leadership at they take on Italy in the Six Nations tomorrow and they can look to a returning Joe Launchbury to make the difference.

The team clearly needs a victory following their loss to a resurgent Scotland and the pressure is on Eddie Jones after losing four of his last six matches in charge.