Listeners to the excellent Forward the Hamlet podcast will be familiar with the opening sequence, in which my friend Richard, who posts on Dulwich Hamlet forums as Pink Panther, describes, in his distinctively deep and clear voice, a goal as "an absolute humdinger from 25 yards out". At Prescot Cables' game against Trafford, we had one too, of which more later.
I had agreed that before the game I would photograph Phil Bannister's presentation for 100 appearances. I got a bus to get there in plenty of time, but an accident on the M56 was causing congestion for 20 miles around, so it was a bit late. This would not have been a problem, had the driver not slowed down once past the congestion as though he was early. The presentation therefore had a rushed air, and certainly no time for speeches. At least I got a picture for Phil and his family.
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| Doug Lace (Club Secretary), Phil Bannister, Andy Paxton |
We played at Trafford earlier in the season, losing 8-0, watched by Andy Paxton, who was to be appointed as manager the following morning. Things did not bode well for this return fixture, with an early goal from the visitors, and a first half performance that left something to be desired. We were, however, able to level the scores towards half time with a goal from Rob Doran.
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| Rob Doran |
My photographic experiments continued: where the ball or part of the action is set against the night sky, I try to keep the background as dark as possible. Using the raw file editor, we can use the levels and noise reduction to remove grain and enhance this effect.
The second half immediately looked as though it would be much better, with a penalty converted by Rob Doran in the first few minutes. I had found the first half frustrating photographically, with most play in front of the stand, when I was on the gasworks side. The second half was more promising.
Phil Bannister celebrated his award with the goal of the match, and a contender for goal of the season. This was our "absolute humdinger from 25 yards out", leaving the defence and goalkeeper standing. I was standing in front of Jonah O'Reilly's father, who often gets our goals on video, and neither of us were surprised not to have captured it. Get in!
The scoring was completed with our fourth goal from Lloyd Dean shortly before the end.
This result illustrates the turnaround since Andy Paxton became manager, particularly at home. In turn, attendances are about 30 or so up on the same period last season, and more people using the bar after the game. This has been achieved with relatively small changes in personnel. Of the starting XI, nine players were with us at the beginning of the season, with only Marcus Burgess and Lloyd Dean (who have admittedly been highly significant additions) having joined under the new management.
The rest of the pictures from the game can be seen here.
Final score: Prescot Cables 4 (Doran 2, Bannister, Dean) Trafford 1.
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| Joe Herbert |
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| Danny Flood |
The scoring was completed with our fourth goal from Lloyd Dean shortly before the end.
This result illustrates the turnaround since Andy Paxton became manager, particularly at home. In turn, attendances are about 30 or so up on the same period last season, and more people using the bar after the game. This has been achieved with relatively small changes in personnel. Of the starting XI, nine players were with us at the beginning of the season, with only Marcus Burgess and Lloyd Dean (who have admittedly been highly significant additions) having joined under the new management.
The rest of the pictures from the game can be seen here.
Final score: Prescot Cables 4 (Doran 2, Bannister, Dean) Trafford 1.
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