Four goals and a spilled pint

It was another fine day for Prescot Cables' game at home to Farsley AFC. We were still looking for points to give us the decisive advantage over New Mills to avoid relegation, whereas for the visitors the playoffs were out of reach, and they were well away from relegation. It was Grand National day, which claims a few supporters, and, looking at the team sheet, may have accounted for some players, and, being the weekend after Easter, the start of the wedding season, which accounted for another.

We started brightly, and I captured Ben Morrow being called into action. My view of the goal is often obstructed, and I (and Ben) have so far had to be content mainly with pictures when the ball has been safely gathered.

Ben Morrow

The scoring was opened when James Jenkins was brought down, and Neil Prince did not err in converting the penalty.

Neil Prince scores from the penalty

Neil was active with the dead ball a couple of minutes later. I like a goal as much as the next man, but the crowd like to be entertained too. His free kick was aimed for the top corner but went wide, landing on the pitch perimeter fence, just at the point Dave "The Monster" had balanced his pint.

The players look concerned at the fate of Dave's pint

With just the one goal lead at half time, we needed a second to keep up the momentum. James Jenkins obliged seven minutes in.

James Jenkins

Sam Corlett has held on to the top scorer spot for most of the season with ten goals. In the last couple of weeks, Jack Phillips has been putting in a challenge, with a match winning goal against Lancaster, and the goals to secure a point against Scarborough. Jack's free kick on the edge of the area found the goalkeeper's fingers, and then described a trajectory that seemed to defy the laws of physics to cross the line - the ball went across the line somewhere to the left of his feet in this picture.

A few minutes later, the goalkeeper handled a back pass, conceding an indirect free kick near the penalty spot. You do not see this error very often today, as the law has been in operation since before most players (certainly most of our team) were born. I remember when it first came in, around 1993. There were not as many free kicks as might have been expected then either, but plenty of goals caused by the keeper dithering because he could not remember quickly enough what he was supposed to do.

James Gardiner supplied the necessary first touch, for Jack Phillips to blast home and put himself into the position of top scorer.

Jack Phillips puts away James Gardiner's free kick

With the shortage of players, Assistant Manager Neil Black, who has mainly been concentrating on coaching, joined the squad.

Neil Black

This win turned out to be necessary, with both New Mills below us and Radcliffe Borough above us winning. Padiham won too: although they cannot escape the relegation positions, they are still in competition to claim the second from bottom position eligible for a possible reprieve.

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

Final score: Prescot Cables 4 (Prince pen, Jenkins, Phillips 2), Farsley AFC 0.