It is a team game and all have played their part

I remember reading a reminiscence from a colleague of the late FIFA President, Sir Stanley Rous from when he was a school teacher in Watford. The writer was refereeing in a games lesson when a boy congratulated a team mate who had just scored. "Caution that boy," Rous ordered, "it is a team game, and all have played their part". That could be a fair summation of Prescot Cables' season, which we completed at home to Ossett Town at the weekend.

Not having a playing budget means that players may be tempted by clubs who can afford to pay, or may find they cannot afford to maintain training and travel commitments without any expenses. We have used 69 players this season, the highest for some years, although not as high as you may think, the average for the last few seasons has been in the fifties.

Team game or no, the records tell us who scored the goals, so the first mention should go to Jon Bathurst, the top scorer for the season with 11 goals, which includes having to take a break of some weeks in the middle of the season to rest a recurring injury.

Jon Bathurst

Good strikers are hard to come by, as they are often snapped up by teams that can afford to pay high wages. To illustrate the point that it is a team game, Jon was one of 21 of our players to find the net this season.

Like most clubs, we have awards at the end of the season. I missed this year's presentation, as I was in London - as Dulwich Hamlet manager Gavin Rose rightly pointed out to his players, championships do not come round very often, so you should enjoy them when they do. That weekend could have been the nightmare scenario, having to choose between watching Dulwich needing a result to clinch the championship and Prescot needing a result to avoid relegation. It became apparent during March that the latter was unlikely, and the theoretical possibility was removed with the emergency extension of the EvoStik League season.

Our players of the year, all playing on Saturday, were James McCulloch (Players' and Supporters)...

James McCulloch

... Ged Murphy (Manager's), also the player with the most appearances for the season ...

Richie and Frank watch Ged Murphy take a free kick. James considers the implications of Pontefract Collieries' 10th goal at Askern Villa

... and a new award this year, Young Player - looking at the ages of the players in the programme, chosen from quite a large pool - Jack Webb.

Jack Webb

These players have all made more than 30 appearances over the season, but those who have only appeared a small number of times played their part: those who helped us get a team together to start competing back in August ...

Alejandro Barba San Felipe and Gary Williams playing at Goole

... those who played a few games in mid season ...

Max Fargin in action at Ramsbottom

... and those who have recently joined us, such as Lee Novak, replacing Adam Reid in goal for the last two games, as Adam's contract with Altrincham, and therefore his loan, only ran to the original end of the season.

Lee Novak

The final score of 2-1 to Ossett Town meant we finished 17th, one place below last year, but with more points. After a steady start to the season, being 3 points off point per game form at the end of November, we had a disappointing December and January, where some good performances did not yield results. A run of good results in March and April, with a couple of upsets for those challenging for playoff places, made safety assured with 3 or 4 weeks to go.

This year's team has been one of those I have most enjoyed watching over the years. The defining ethos that Dave Powell has instilled in the team this year has been always to maintain concentration to the final whistle. For a few seasons we have often succumbed to late goals: this season we have been scoring them, from the last minute equaliser at home to Harrogate Railway Athletic, or the last minute grab of all three points at Wakefield, through to the two against Ossett Albion last week. I cannot recall a game this season where the team has lacked energy and commitment.

It has also been a good season to be watching Cables away too: the Train Crew, which started last season when a couple of people going to a game by train arranged to meet, has produced a stream of hardy travellers, mainly people who have not previously been to away games, with good turnouts for Clitheroe and Mossley.

Some of the Train Crew at Trafford

Those who have been following the troubles we have had with the pitch will not be surprised that the areas where we had an issue with mud are, after some dry weather, now somewhat dusty, as you can see in the picture of James McCulloch above. The club have launched "Supporters on the Pitch", where supporters and local companies can pay £20 to "purchase" a square of the pitch to raise money towards sanding, vertidraining, levelling and seeding the over the summer. Dave Powell has purchased the home dugout, and coach Warren Jones has purchased a spot in front of goal at the Safari Park End. We of course also need something that money cannot buy, the right combination of sun and rain to make sure the new seed beds in and grows.

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