Numb were the bedesman's fingers

In The Eve of St Agnes, Keats tells of a maiden following the rituals of St Agnes' Eve, by which, it is said, she will see a dream of her future husband, unaware he has decided to visit, risking the wrath of her hositle family. Being immune to such things, the part I remember is the description of the bedesman in the first few verses, and the particularly cold January night on which he is saying his appointed prayers.

Prescot Cables visited Durham City on St Agnes' Day, and the cold lived up to expectations. It was not our bedesman's still cold, which we encountered on the same weekend last year, and which led me to wonder if a 3G pitch could freeze, but a strong, icy wind, taking an uninterrupted course from the Arctic to New Ferens Park. The question was who would take best advantage of the conditions, and whether I would still have a set of functioning fingers by the end of the game.

Tony Shaw preparing to take a throw in - Harry and Dave watching closely and trying to keep out of the wind

Despite the wind, it was another fine, sunny day, leading to excellent shutter speeds for the time of year. A low sun is not without issues, as a lot of grounds have light coloured concrete walls and advertising boards, so players are almost as backlit as with the sun behind them. Take this example with Prescot's Ashley Ruane.

The solution is the same as when the sun is behind a player - lighten the shadows and darken the hightlights, not perfect, but we can see what is going on.

The first goal went to Durham, which did not fill us with confidence, but Prescot started to take advantage of the conditions with an equaliser from Joe Gibiliru and went ahead with a short range tap from James McCulloch.

James McCulloch (no 4) celebrates his goal

I thought the second half may be better for me, with the wall providing some shelter, and worse for the players, with the wind favouring Durham. I was wrong on both points, with a third goal being supplied by Steven Tames.

Durham's floodlights have a pylon at each corner with 5 or 6 heads on each pylon, which is less common at this level than pylons down each side. With the latter arrangement, I find it better to go to the side of the pitch when the lights are on. Having tried it with the corner arrangement at Dulwich Hamlet and Durham, I found it confers less advantage. At least it gave me chance to get a couple of pictures of a good save from Stephen Longrigg.

And finally ... I do like a picture that looks like something completely different from what is actually going on.

For the avoidance of doubt, Cables' Chris Rowntree has NOT just delivered a kick to his marker's posterior!

Unlike our bedesman, who slept amongst his sackcloth and ashes at the end of his night's prayers, I consulted the Good Beer Guide, and retired to a nice warm public house to thaw out.

The rest of the pictures from the game can be seen here.