Unbeaten league leaders Woodbank were toppled by a determined Prestwich display. They ran out 58-run winners in a keenly contested game in front of a decent crowd at The Heys last Saturday.

Prestwich professional Danny Jones scored an excellent 75 in his side’s par total of 198, before spinner Andy Bradley struck with a seven-timer to help dismiss the visitors for 140.

Simon Read was the standout performer for Woodbank, taking 6 for 60 in an unbroken 23-over spell.

Prestwich made an fine start with Jones and James Wharmby staging an 82-run opening partnership at a healthy scoring rate.

Wharmby made a solid 31, cracking six fours, before he was the first of Read’s six victims.

The previous week’s record runmaker Matt Wiley made just 10, getting a bottom edge on an attempted pull shot from Read, onto his stumps.

A total beyond 200 looked achievable with Jones and Sam Holden at the wicket, and the score showing 139 for 2.

Woodbank had also lost the services of experienced veteran Mark Stringer, who dislocated a shoulder as he dived to stop a sinlge off his own bowling.

But a risky two by Jones saw him run out by a direct throw from Nawaz, ending an innings containing nine boundaries and one six.

Holden was l.b.w. for 28 shortly afterwards, and Prestwich lost wickets at regular intervals as they strived to maintain the strike-rate, but only Chris Thomas (14) made it into double figures.

Bradley struck twice to dismiss Steve Dearden, and son Harry, with 43 on the board, but not for the first time, a run out proved the Achilles heel for an in-form batsman.

Opener Brett Collins had made a blustery 32 when he attempted a second run to the arm of Chris Thomas on the deep extra cover boundary, and failed to make his ground.

With Nick Haynes and Kennedy taking the score to 90 for 3, the game was well in the balance, but after a switch of bowling ends, Kennedy then unluckily saw the ball cannon of his bat onto his stumps from Jones for 10.

Bradley, now at the tennis court end, sent down three aces to dismiss Read for 2, Hamnett for 12 and Haynes for 22 as the hosts gained the upper hand. He finished with 7 for 56.

A typical flurry from Woodbank skipper John Chapman (16 not out) was not enough to avert defeat, as Woodbank ended on nine wickets down, with Stringer unable to bat through injury.

The result saw Denton St Lawrence leapfrog to the head of the Lees Lancashire County League table, to whom Prestwich pay a visit on Saturday.

Prestwich are also in Walkden Cup action on Sunday, with a first round home tie against Thornham.

* Prestwich suffered a first-round Lancashire Cup knockout on Sunday with a seven-wicket defeat by Northern League side Netherfield. Prestwich’s 201 total, with Wharmby making a half century, proved insufficient as the visitors comfortably overhauled the target for the loss of three wickets.

* Prestwich 2nd XI turned in a miserable showing at Woodbank, losing by 71 runs.

With all three Saturday teams starting the season in new divisions of the Lancashire Amateur League, their accomplishments this term would probably be seen as satisfactory. However, all teams will look back on the weeks at the end of the season with a sense of what might have been.

The FIRST TEAM got on the pre-season Kenyon Cup trail with a narrow 2-1 loss to Manchester League neighbours Prestwich Heys but wins against Radcliffe Town and Little Lever ensured new manager Craig Howarth’s side, assisted by the injured Danny Smith, progressed to the knock out stages. A quarter-final win away at Walshaw Sports meant the team were just 90 minutes away from a prestigious Gigg Lane final.

The bread and butter of the league started on the 20th August but Prestwich’s Premier Division life got off to a losing start with a 1-0 loss at Rochdale St Clements.

Two further defeats to Rossendale Amateurs and Chaddertonians left the team bottom of the division as they prepared for the visit of Champions Failsworth Dynamos.

However, Prestwich put in a great performance to sweep the champions aside 5-0 and followed it up with a further three points from a league win against Old Mancunians before progression in the League Cup with a 5-0 win over Radcliffe Boys.

A loss at home to Carnforth Rangers in the Lancashire Cup followed and then just one point from the next three league games left Prestwich bang in the middle of the Premier Division table.

These inconsistent runs of results would come to trouble the team throughout the whole season.

Nine points from nine followed as Old Boltonians and Hesketh Casuals (in a double-header) were swept aside. Chadderton also losing out to Prestwich in the league cup.

Defeats to would-be champions Castle Hill and a revenge result from a wounded Failsworth meant more dropped points although successes against Chaddertonians and Little Lever ensured the team finished on a high as the bad weather set in for the winter.

December’s calendar was completely wiped out but early January saw two fixtures staged – a win and a loss against Old Mancunians and Horwich Victoria respectively.

The remainder of January and most of February brought no official action with pitches either too wet, too muddy, too frozen or just covered in snow. A couple of friendy’s on the 3G at Our Lady’s at least gave the lads something to do.

Competitive action returned on the 25th Feb in a two-all draw with leaders Bury GSOB before another draw of the same score line with Rochdale St Clements.

A 6-0 romp under the floodlights at Atherton Collieries’ ground against Howe Bridge Mills was backed up with a 2-1 win over Old Boltonians. However, a disappointing defeat against bottom club CMB Sports left the teams hope of a top four finish hanging by a thread.

Tyldesley United fell in the next round of the league cup before a 4-0 win over Horwich Victoria got April off to a winning start.

But as end of season midweek games started coming thick and fast, the team’s form took a worrying nose dive. Struggles with player availability, coupled with some extremely dubious decisions from officials in key games, ultimately saw Prestwich fail in three competitions in the space of just a couple of weeks.

A 1-0 league cup quarter final defeat at Rossendale Amateurs was followed with a 3-1 league reverse to Howe Bridge Mills.

The three-times re-arranged Kenyon Cup semi-final against Heywood St James was finally played, although not at Ramsbottom as originally planned but at Heywood’s home ground instead. A couple of bizarre decisions by the men in black contributed to a 2-1 loss to the eventual competition winners.

A 3-2 win over West Lancashire league bound CMB followed and that left just one fixture remaining – the visit of champions Castle Hill.

A win over the visitors would see Prestwich, currently in 8th place in the table, jump up to either 5th or 4th depending on other results. The task wasn’t helped with a number of players out either injured or unavailable but they found themselves actually leading 2-1 on the hour mark. However, the visitors turned on the style in the latter stages as Prestwich fell apart, losing out in the end 6-2.

Annoyingly, the other results went our way too!

Prestwich FC First Team – 2011/12

League Finish: LAL Premier Division 8th
League Record: P 26, W 12, D 3, L 11, F 63, A 47, GD +16, PTS 39
LAL First Team Cup: Quarter Finalists
LFA Cup: Second Round
Kenyon Cup: Semi Finalists

Top Goalscorer: Ashley Hoolighan (25)
Most Appearances: Tom Walsh (30, 5 sub)
Most Starts: Paul Taylor (32)

The RESERVE TEAM continued under the management of Liam Morrissey and Brian Clegg and started with a 6-2 win over Rochdale St Clements A and a 3-0 win over Accrington Amateurs Reserves as they looked for another promotion at the first time of asking.

Consecutive 7-0 triumphs over Broughton Amateurs Reserves and Bolton Wyresdale Reserves, followed by a 4-2 win over Mostonians Reserves kept up their 100% start ahead of cup progression in the first round against Rochdale St Clements Reserves.

October brought yet more wins as Dobbies, Astley Bridge, Horwich Victoria Reserves and Old Blackburnians A all collected nothing in the league while Old Boltonians Reserves went down 2-1 in the next round of the cup.

A relentless succession of wins continued before the enforced winter break as Old Standians Reserves, second placed Oldham Hulmeians Reserves, Accrington Amateurs Reserves, Mostonians Reserves and Dobbies all had no joy in halting the team’s progress.

Action returned some 12 weeks later near the end of February but the Reserves hadn’t lost any sparkle as the wins kept on coming. Five of them in fact.

But all good things come to an end and nearest challengers Oldham Hulmeians Reserves finally got the better of Liam’s men in a narrow 1-0 win at Heys Road.

Despite that small setback, mathematically ensuring the league title was only a few games away and further 13 points from the next 15 available sealed the Division Four Championship by quite some margin. Their final game against Rossendale Amateurs B wasn’t even played and recorded as a 0-0 with playing time in the season fast running out.

All that was left was cup glory and a 3-1 Quarter Final win over Broughton Amateurs Reserves was followed by a nervy 6-5 win on penalties following a 3-3 draw against Thornleigh Reserves in the semi-final.

The postponed final against Horwich Victoria Reserves was played at Castle Hill’s ground after the waterlogging at the original venue of Old Blackburnians. Unfortunately a disjointed first half performance left the team with a 2-0 deficit at the break and a bit of a mountain to climb.

A much improved display in the second half gave Prestwich hope, especially after leading scorer Jordan Clegg pulled one back from the spot with ten minutes to play.

However, Horwich broke up the field with minutes left to confirm the victory and destroy Prestwich’s dream of a league and cup double.

Cup disappointment aside, the league campaign was a marvellous success and brought the club yet another trophy in their fledgling existence.

Prestwich FC would like to thank Liam, Brian and his team for their efforts over the last couple of seasons and wish them well for the future as they look to play at a level a bit better suited to their ability.

Prestwich FC Reserve Team – 2011/12

League Finish: LAL Division Four 1st
League Record: P 26, W 23, D 2, L 1, F 93, A 22, GD +71, PTS 71
LAL Second Team Cup: Runners-Up

Top Goalscorer: Jordan Clegg (32)
Most Appearances: Andrew Morrissey (28, 0 sub)
Most Starts: Andrew Morrissey (28)

The A TEAM started out life in Division Five under the new management of Aaron Saunders and wins over Hesketh Casuals A and Rochdale St Clements B sandwiched a 0-0 draw at home to Bury GSOB A in a promising start to the season.

A loss to Radcliffe Town A brought September to a close and also Aaron’s short tenure as manager as he left for personal reasons.

Andrew Howarth, brother of First Team manager Craig, stepped in to take over running of the team and got off to the best possible start with a 7-1 win over Ashtonians Reserves at Drinkwater Park.

A draw with Roach Dynamos Reserves was followed by a disappointing cup exit to Old Boltonians A. Another high scoring win over Lymm Reserves was backed up by a high scoring defeat to Howe Bridge Mills Reserves and a narrow loss to Rossendale Amateurs C.

But the team found a bit of form either side of the winter break as Bury GSOB A, Radcliffe Town A, Ashtonians Reserves and Rochdale St Clements B all left empty handed.

Thornleigh edged out Prestwich 3-2 to end February but a further three league wins over Hesketh, Ainsworth Reserves and Old Mancunians A kept up the teams promotion challenge.

However just a point from games against Roach and Ainsworth put things back in the balance before three wins on the bounce fired the team to the top of the division with just four games left to play.

Unfortunately, squeaky bum time got the better of the team and just a single point from those last games completely derailed their season and scuppered any chances of promotion in a fourth placed finish.

But hopefully that experience should benefit them in future seasons as they look to continue progressing through the Lancashire Amateur League ranks.

Prestwich FC A Team – 2011/12

League Finish: LAL Division Five 4th
League Record: P 26, W 14, D 4, L 8, F 72, A 53, GD +19, PTS 46
LAL Third Team Cup: First Round

Top Goalscorer: Daniel Frappola (10) & Daniel Ingham (10)
Most Appearances: Roberto Monetti (24, 0 sub)
Most Starts: Roberto Monetti (24)

The SUNDAY TEAM saw big changes for the new season with an almost entire new squad coming in under the management of Jamie Comiskey.

And the team struggled to get to grips with the Bury Premier Division with big defeats being dished out by Wagonmakers (8-1) and Crown (5-1).

But a 2-2 draw against Staff of Life gave the team some confidence as they embarked on a decent run up to the Christmas and New Year period. Wins over Huntley Mount, Ostrich and Duck came either side of a loss to The Cave during that run.

But upon the return to action, three defeats and elimination from the Millennium Cup in the first round saw the gloom return as the reality of a relegation battle set in.

A remarkable 14-0 loss at home to the Wagonmakers brought about the dishing out of some home truths which seemed to have an effect with seven points from nine gained in the next three matches.

The bottom two clubs were having no joy at all and Prestwich looked all but safe with a healthy points gap separating them and the drop zone.

A couple of defeats to strong Lizzy sides followed but at least the team managed to finish the season on a high with a 6-1 win at home to The Cave last week ensuring another season of Premier Division action on Sunday mornings.

Prestwich FC Sunday Team – 2011/12

League Finish: BDSL Premier Division 8th
League Record: P 18, W 6, D 2, L 10, F 46, A 77, GD -31, PTS 20
Millennium Cup: First Round

Top Goalscorer: Declan O’Shea (9)
Most Appearances: Mark Broderick (14, 1 sub)
Most Starts: Mark Broderick (14)

Prestwich Cricket Club will be hosting another Junior Coaching Camp following on from the success of last years event. Taking place over the 6th and 7th June, the camp caters for players aged 9 to 17 years and will be run by ex-Prestwich Pro’ Amal Dalugoda amongst others.

JUNIOR COACHING CAMP

6th and 7th June 2012
10am to 3pm

£10 per day

Age 9 – 17 years
(Maximum 30 players)

4 coaches, all level 2 or 3

SPINNERS
FAST/MEDIUM BOWLING
BATTING
WICKET KEEPING

To book contact Brian Lorenzini on 07850 947 534.

Bring your own lunch and drinks.

Read on to find out who this months winners are in the Prestwich Cricket, Tennis and Bowling Clubs monthly cash prize draw. Cash prizes totaling £400 are up for grabs each month. Ask at the bar if you’re not already playing.

May 2012

£200 Main Prize: Ray Wharmby

2 x £100 Runners Up Prizes:

Ian & Sue Hunsley
Dawn Ward

Prestwich turned record-breakers on Sunday when they racked up the highest-ever league total of 448 – and batsman Matt Wiley smashed the individual record with 229.

Professional Danny Jones also blasted a century as the Heys side went run crazy against a beleaguered Irlam side.

Like the proverbial bear with the sore head, following a derby defeat against Stand 24 hours earlier, Prestwich were keen to make amends at The Heys.

Wiley led the charge with a remarkable 22 fours and 16 sixes. His innings beat the score of 226 not out by Ryan Nurse, for Denton St Lawrence, and his double century also came in the quickest time, off 115 balls compared to Nurse’s 123 deliveries. It took Wiley just 15 balls to race from 150 to 200.

Earlier, Jones had been the first to clock up three figures – his first ton for the club – in a stand of 198 with Wiley. Jones himself cracked 10 boundaries and six sixes in his 88-ball innings before he was superbly caught by a sprawling Afzal running back from mid-on.

Wiley rode his luck on a couple of occasions, before Thomas eventually claimed his scalp by bowling him for 229, made off 128 balls, and he left the field to a worthy reception.

Skipper Steven Lorenzini (25) and Oliver Holt (18) had given sensible support as Prestwich finished on 448 for 6 at the end of 50-over allocation, beating the previous highest set by Denton St Lawrence of 401 for 1.

Facing such a towering task, Irlam responded positively but wickets started to fall at regular intervals. A competent catch in the deep by Jones gave Andy Bradley the first of his five victims to dismiss Quinn for 17 to make the breakthrough with the total on 24.

Jones plundered two wickets, both assisted by the hands of Sam Holden, but Irlam sklipper Matt Hood showed admirable resistance, making a run-a-ball 50 until Elliot Woodage took a well-judged catch from a flat-batted pull, off Bradley’s bowling, to make the score 99 for 5.

Stuart Hilton cracked three boundaries late on, but Bradley completed his five-wicket haul to finish on 5 for 51, and fellow slowie Woodage also grabbed a couple of wickets (2 for 19) to dismiss the visitors for 133 and afford Prestwich a victory margin of 315 runs.

Prestwich, the current title holders, face a crucial early-season showdown on Saturday when they play host to league pacesetters Woodbank.

On Sunday, they welcome Netherfield in the first round of the Lancashire Cup.

Report from the Stand game on Saturday:

A lack-lustre performance left Stand to “stand tall” in the battle of the neighbours last Saturday.

Prestwich made the short trip to Hamilton Road, but failed to reach the 192-run target, casting 80 runs adrift.

Even without pro Danny Jones through work commitments and with Prestwich experiencing the worst of a deteriorating wicket, Stand were the better side on the day.

Prestwich struck an early blow when they dismissed Stand’s Aussie pro Brett Ernst for 8, caught by the tumbling Steve Orrell at square leg from a Oliver Holt delivery.

But the visitors found wickets hard to come by, as Dave Taylor typically got in the runs, and opener Chris Holt batted solidly, taking the score to 74.

Sam Holden struck, having Holt trapped l.b.w. for 29, and Taylor was bowled for 31 by Elliot Woodage.

But the experienced Stuart Catterall made a vital mid-innings contribution of 42, ensuring his team transcended well beyond the 150-run mark – and it was only a rare misjudgement – attempting to run two to the arm of Chris Thomas – proved his downfall.

Former Prestwich player Peter Walters cracked a fine straight six, but otherwise struggled and was caught by Thomas for 9, and Scott Butterworth (12) popped a catch back to give Tom Gibson reward.

Bradley picked up three wickets to stop any late onslaught and finish with figures of 4 for 64 from 20 overs.

A telling statistic was the number of extras – a joint top score with Catterall of 42 – as the new automatic legside wides rule cost Prestwich dear.

Opener Steve Orrell cracked a four and six in the first over as Prestwich’s reply started brightly.

But he was caught by Carl Sutcliffe at slip for 10 off Butterworth, who gained his second scalp when he bowled Matt Wiley for 6, without a shot being offered.

The mire got deeper for the visitors as Holden got a leading edge to give Catterall a catch, and skipper Steven Lorenzini became Butterworth’s fourth victim with the unplayable ball of the day. He was l.b.w. to ball which pee-rolled – in the true sense of the word – from well short of a length.

From 27 for 4, Holt (12) and Gibson (13) gave some support to James Wharmby, who carried on from the previous week, with an innings of steadfast determination, lasting two hours and 10 minutes.

He was the last man to fall for a gritty 43 for an ‘all out’ total of 112, leaving Butterworth (5 for 44) and Catterall (3 for 15) to claim Stand’s bowling plaudits.

* Prestwich 2XI enjoyed a full ten point winning weekend with a 17 run win over Stand on Saturday followed by an 8 wicket win at Irlam the next day.

Match Photo’s – Prestwich 2XI v Stand

A BRILLIANT innings of 92 from teenager James Wharmby guided Prestwich to a four-wicket triumph.

The youngster took the Heys side to the verge of victory as they hunted down Denton’s total of 177.

With the scores level, he was denied unbeaten status when he was outdone by a low-bouncing delivery.

But it was a excellent day all round for the 18-year-old as he also played a crucial part in the dismissal of Dutch international Michael Swart.

The Denton professional had made a forceful 28 when the diving Wharmby clasped onto a steepling catch on the square leg boundary to give Andy Bradley his first wicket of the new campaign.

The home side found wickets hard to come by as Martin Leach (28) Jamie Garde (39) helped take the score to 126 for 3.

But persistence from Prestwich pro Danny Jones, off a shortened run, paid off as he bowled Leach and had Muhammad caught by Tom Gibson, before he was also responsible for a direct hit to put an end to Garde’s stay.

Oliver Holt was introduced into the attack and made three quick strikes into the Denton middle order for a return of 3 for 37, but a score of around 200 was still viable, before Jones returned to the attack and ended a spritely innings of 40 from Karl Taylor.

He then uprooted the stumps of tailenders Holmes and Addison to curtail their innings at 177, finishing with a commendable 5 for 46 off 16.3 overs.

The Prestwich reply was solid with openers Jones and Wharmby passing 50 with few alarms, before Swart had his opposing number l.b.w. for 23.

Wharmby and Matt Wiley flourished with a partnership of 88, Wiley thrice putting the ball into the boundary trees.

Wharmby gave the short ball short shrift, also striking three sixes in his innings lasting 160 balls, and two-and-a-half hours at the crease.

The stand was broken when Wiley slipped up as he called for a quick single and was run out for 37.

A trio of quick wickets followed as Sam Holden, dropped once at deep square leg, repeated the dose and was caught second time round, while Steven Lorenzini was run out, and Holt well caught at mid-wicket. But the wobble was only minor as Wharmby and Chris Thomas cracked a couple of boundaries each.

Thomas was on hand to dab home the winning single to give Prestwich a maximum five-point haul and get their season rolling, following the abandonment of their first two Lees Lancashire County League games.

Prestwich face a trip to local rivals Stand on Saturday, before hosting Irlam on Sunday.

* Despite a six-wicket haul by Damon Montgomery, Prestwich 2nd XI managed only 84 in pursuit of a 141-run target at Denton 2nds.

Match Photo’s - Prestwich 1XI v Denton

Bowling Club Member Phil Bradley was this week announced as the winner of the Football Association’s prestigious Bobby Moore Individual Award in the FA’s national Respect and Fair Play awards.

The award, which covers the whole spectrum of football from the Premiership right the way down to junior football, is made each year to the person who a panel of judges including the likes of Sir Trevor Brooking consider has done more than anyone in the game to encourage respect and fair play throughout the game nationally.

Phil, who was League Secretary of the Northern Premier League from 2002 until stepping down last June, was the driving force behind the League landing the first two FA Respect Awards for leagues since the inception of the scheme in 2010 and although the League just missed out on a hat-trick this year when finishing second his work in driving down dissent cautions, foul and abusive language dismissals and improving Technical Area behaviour consistently year on year has been rewarded with the Bobby Moore individual prize.

He said “It is a great honour to even be mentioned in the same breath as Bobby Moore who was one of the greatest players of his era and certainly one of my favourite players of all time. The fact that the FA have chosen myself from all the people in the entire country involved in football to be awarded this prize makes me feel very humble but at the same time very proud indeed”.

Phil will be presented with his award at the FA Cup Final between Chelsea and Liverpool at Wembley on the 5th May.

Prestwich’s path to next week’s Gigg Lane final has seen numerous obstacles put in their way over the last couple of months.

But all those postponements and last minute re-arrangements, annoying and disruptive as they were, pale in significance when blatant and obvious decisions during a match are not correctly given.

It is a trend that has hindered the team on numerous occasions during the season and, for whatever reason, continued today and pretty much ensured Prestwich were dumped out of the Kenyon Cup at the semi-final stage.

In just the opening minute, Prestwich went on the attack and as space opened up, midfielder Tom Walsh tried his luck from outside the box but saw his effort easily collected by the Heywood ‘keeper.

As both team’s then felt each other out in the opening exchanges, it was the home side who next created a chance when a forward broke through but poked his effort wide of the Prestwich goal.

Lee Bushell and Ashley Hoolighan combined well before the latter drove past the post while three or four other attempts from distance caused more concern to the Heywood supporters gathered behind the goal.

But on the stroke of half time, Heywood broke the deadlock as a strike from 20 yards squirmed under the dive of Kieran Watson in the Prestwich goal.

Buoyed by their opening goal, Heywood started the second half on the front foot and tested the Prestwich defenders as they pressed the visitors back for long periods.

However, Prestwich gradually worked their way back in to contention and were furious on the hour when a deliberate handball by a defender on the edge of the six yard box went unpunished.

It was clear to almost everybody present at the Phoenix Ground but the referee wasn’t interested and dished out a couple of yellow cards to Prestwich players for their protests.

Driven on by yet another sense of injustice, Prestwich piled forward and got a chance to level just three minutes later when Curtis Ward earned his side a free kick under challenge from a Heywood defender.

The passionate midfielder dusted himself down and despatched a superb curling free kick over the wall and in to the corner of the goal.

One-all and game on.

Winger Martin Hill then broke free down the right but his dink over the ‘keeper drifted just wide of the post.

Hoolighan and Ward both saw volleys from distance miss their target before the moment that ultimately lead to the visitor’s demise.

Skipper Richard Steadman hooked clear from his own byline only for the ball to hit the back of a forward and go out for a goal kick.

But the officials had other ideas and signalled for a corner kick instead. This was eventually taken and headed behind for another corner.

This time the set piece caused a scramble in the Prestwich box which resulted in a Heywood effort looking like it had been successfully hacked off the line.

However, as Prestwich broke upfield, play was halted and the goal was given. It was a close call but to be fair, the correct decision.

The main issue for the Prestwich players was the award of the original corner kick. The offending player later admitted that the ball had indeed come off him although he really was just stating what was obvious to everybody else.

Prestwich were now completely crestfallen and almost resigned to their fate as they went through the motions in the closing moments.

The final whistle went and Heywood celebrated as they booked their place in the showpiece final next Tuesday against AFC Bury.

As for Prestwich, well they need to pick themselves up fast and look for positive results in their last two league matches.

CMB are entertained on Saturday followed by the visit of Champions Castle Hill to Heys Road seven days later.

After the recent disappointments in the cup competitions, a six point haul from these games would at least end the season on a high going in to the summer break.

PRESTWICH: Watson, Kosub, Kirkley, Ward (1), Steadman, Taylor, Hill (Williams), Walsh, Haslam (D Jones), Hoolighan, Bushell (Jackson)

Match Photo’s - Heywood St James 2, Prestwich 1

If you’ve been keeping an eye on our Twitter and Facebook, you’d notice that our scheduled Kenyon Cup semi-final against Heywood St James tonight had been called off for a third time at Ramsbottom’s Riverside ground.

With Gigg Lane being booked for the final next Tuesday, the number of available dates for getting this game played was already small. Throw in to the mix other regular league and cup fixtures for both us and Heywood and we were basically left with tomorrow evening.

Playing at Ramsbottom was then out of the question what with their possible promotion-clenching last game of the season against Winsford United there this Saturday.

Other neutral venues would almost be impossible to book at such short notice so it was decided to play at either our ground or theirs. The sodden state of our pitch pretty much ruled that out as a possibility straight away, especially with the Reserves cup quarter-final against Broughton Amateurs due to be played on Wednesday night.

To their credit, Heywood said that with a bit of prep work on their pitch, they could host the game but obviously with no floodlights, the kick off would need to be brought forward an hour to 6:30pm.

So that’s where we’re at. Tuesday 24th April, 6:30pm at Heywood’s Phoenix Ground which is on Shepherd Street, just next to Lidl on the main road (Bridge Street) through the town centre.

THE only game Prestwich played last weekend was one of “frustration”.

The reigning league champions had been hoping to kick off their defence of the Lees Lancashire County title with a bang.

But the only strokes on show would have been the breaststroke or backstroke.

The Heys ground was waterlogged last Saturday for the visit of Flowery Field while it was the same outcome when the first team travelled to Denton West on Sunday.

The second team also failed to bowl a ball.

Prestwich 1st team hope to make a belated start to their league season on Saturday at home to Denton, whose professional Michael Swart plays for Holland.

• Full fixtures, results and performances from arond the league can be viewed here: http://www.lancscl.co.uk/Index.do?league=771408402