Natural Light Day

Around this time, there occurs an event which always brings a sense of cheer - the first football game of the year (3pm kick off) to be completed without the floodlights. We can call it Natural Light Day. Never mind there will probably be a couple more dark afternoons, and evening games to come, proof is here that the days are getting longer. It is good for the club too, they do not need to add a couple of hundred pounds to the electricity bill.

Natural Light Day this year saw Prescot Cables' first game for four weeks, hosting Bamber Bridge, who have also switched to amateur status. Shortly after the last game at Durham City, Cables' new manager Shaun Reid took up his duties, so this was his first opportunity to see his new team in a competitive game.

The Management - Lee Smith, Shaun Reid and Tony Carroll

Lee Smith has been appointed as Assistant Manager, matching Shaun's UEFA A licence with Lee's experience of the local game as a player, including 181 appearances for Prescot. I think Dave Ridler's coaching was an attraction for players, and helped the club retain players through the switch to amateur status, so I hope similar professional level coaching will be an attractive option for good local players.

In a game in bright winter light, Prescot went ahead early in the first half with a goal from Ashley Ruane, who has been looking promising for some time, but just missing the net. So the score looked like staying, until the last 10 minutes struck again (our league position would be better if games were played over 80 minutes), with Bamber Bridge equalising with a penalty, then going ahead. The game was still not over, with Ashley Ruane equalising with a second goal.

I have started to supply some pictures for the Merseymart, a supplement to the Liverpool Echo, about which I will say more in the next post. From this game, I sent 4 pictures. There was this one, that I thought was the best action shot.

John Couch tangles with his marker

This one shows Ashley Ruane shooting for his second goal - one that would normally miss the final cut, as Michael Grogan in the background is in slightly better focus than Ashley, but a goal is a goal.

Ashley Ruane shoots for goal number 2

Then there were a couple of images to build up their stock library, so they can illustrate a mention of a player in a match report.

Jack Booth

Joe Gibiliru

Readers in Prescot will know which one they used, but I will be talking more about that in the next post.

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