Crown green goaling

I took advantage of the connection times between trains to do a little church hopping on my way to Prescot Cables' game at Clitheroe. In Preston, I had been to St Walburge's Catholic Church for a First Communion a few months ago and felt I had missed something as I was whisked in and out as a guest: this was my third attempt to visit to appreciate the sheer scale and the detail of the place, my previous two changes at Preston being disrupted by waiting for pitch inspections. St Walburge's is very much back in use after being on the verge of closure a few years ago. Moving on to Blackburn, the Cathedral and the Borough Council have created the Cathedral Quarter, a vast improvement on the windswept bus shelters that greeted visitors arriving by train previously, and which matches the clean lines of the interior, although I have to admit that as cathedrals go, as I looked around I did not see many opportunities for arty photos.

We had sent some players out on loan up the road in Padiham to get some game time: Marcus Burgess returning after injury, Josef Faux returning from travelling, and Tunde Owolabi, who seemed to be doing well enough getting back into the team, but felt it would be of use to him. Marcus is already familiar with the surroundings.

Marcus Burgess visits Prescot with Padiham in 2014

Once in Clitheroe, I went straight to the ground to reconnoitre the territory. I have taken enough pictures from the terraces, but had not considered the vantage point from pitchside. There are some interesting gradients, not just a side to side slope.

During the warm up, the referee was looking suspiciously at how well Ben Barnes was filling the goalmouth, wondering whether the crossbar was the regulation eight feet above the ground for all of its length. It is not an uncommon situation, but I suspect the pitch may be due some work in this area over the summer.

Ben Barnes

I then turned my attention to our  players warming up. It is a little known fact that cones have a life independent of the clubs that procured them.

I was looking out for a couple of new members of the squad, and was able to catch Matthew Hamilton, who came on as a substitute in the second half.

I took up position at the lower side of the slope, behind the goal we were attacking. A couple of boys expressed concern that I might get accidentally clattered in my position, and recommended I retreat behind the barrier. I thought it was middle aged types like me who were supposed to be concerned about 'elf 'n' safety.

Chris Almond opened the scoring after twelve minutes.

Chris Almond

Ben Barnes was called into action several times, culminating in a penalty save just before the half hour. Unfortunately, we undid the good work a minute or so later when we left a gap in the defence for Alexander Newby to exploit. Josh Klein-Davies restored our advantage five minutes later.

Josh Klein-Davies celebrates his goal

For the second half, I decided to stay the same side of the pitch, to get the half of the team I missed in the first half. With the nets attached to the pitch perimeter, I was committed to this side if I did not want to start climbing over fences, and I am built for comfort rather than manoeuvrability. Having scored individually in the first half, Josh Klein-Davies and Chris Almond teamed up for a third.

Josh Klein-Davies forces Chris Thompson to commit himself ...

... and Chris Almond puts the ball away

I was quite happy with the lighting conditions.

Reece Fishwick

Having chosen to be the side of the dugouts and the linesman, I would need to stay behind the goal whether I liked it or not - as it happened it worked out quite well.

Valter Fernandes

The hosts made a determined push during the last 10 minutes, but some solid defence ensured we retained our lead.

The rest of the pictures from the game can be seen on the club website here, and on Google Photos here.

Final score: Clitheroe 1 Prescot Cables 3 (Almond 2, Klein-Davies)

Testing the drainage

With the money Prescot Cables have raised through the Supporters on the Pitch scheme, we have been able to make improvements to the playing surface, one of which is to have it occasionally Verti-Drained. We were to see the advantage in our game against Clitheroe. I arrived to find Robbie, our coach driver and ground volunteer admiring his white lines that had remained intact since Tuesday, saving him a job re-marking them. The rain was starting to fall as the players warmed up, and had become a downpour by the time the game started.

I took a position at the Hope Street End, or, as its sign has been re-fixed, the Roadshow End, where I was partially sheltered by the stand. Josh Klein Davies, the eventual Man of the Match, has been presented with an opportunity by recent departures, and showed he is intent on taking it with both hands by opening the scoring whilst I was still adjusting the cover of my camera. At least I caught the celebration.

I was getting some good pictures despite the rain. I am not sure why the referee felt the need to jump.

Lloyd Dean

Jordan Wynne was next up to score from a penalty.

Jordan Wynne

We unintentionally assisted the visitors with an own goal from James McCulloch.

Being sheltered, I did not realise quite how hard it was raining until I went to the other side of the pitch. I stayed for about 5 minutes until I fully realised the consequences of my error.

Andy Scarisbrick

For the second half I took up position by the touchline where I was partially sheltered by the fence. The players were not so lucky.

Valter Fernandes

I was in position for our third goal from Josef Faux.

Josef Faux celebrates his goal

The rain continued to fall more heavily, to the point I needed to take cover and return to the terrace in front of the main stand for the first time in some while. The pictures from this location give some idea of the difference between being pitchside sitting on the ground and on the terrace, as we see the pitch forming the background of some pictures looking down on the play.

Harry Cain

Clitheroe pulled back a goal, but could not stop us taking all three points in challenging conditions.

Roy Grundy and Steve Pilling

The rest of the pictures from the game can be seen on the club website here, and on Google Photos here.

Final score: Prescot Cables 3 (Klein-Davies, Wynne pen, Faux) Clitheroe 2

Beware of the last ten

I sometimes wonder how much warmer my feet would be if football was, like rugby, played over 80 minutes. There was a time, a few years ago, that Prescot Cables would have been more successful: one season I counted eight points that, by November, had been lost to goals conceded in the last ten minutes of a game. We have largely avoided that more recently, and in the last couple of games have secured late goals, even if they were consolations.

The visit of Clitheroe was Brian Richardson's first home game, and with no Liverpool or Everton games, there was an attendance of 296. Only a couple of seasons ago, the same fixture would have attracted about 100 less. It had been raining during the week, and St Helens Town had played on Thursday, so there was quite a bit of sand on the pitch. When they agreed the ground share, St Helens thought they would be with us for three or four games, but completion of their new home has taken a bit longer.

I started by capturing the presentation picture for the mascots, who I thought I heard announced as the Belle Vale under 60s. We have had older mascots, but even so. Fortunately, I had misheard, it was the more conventional under 6s.

We had one new member of the squad.

Valter Fernandes

I had not had time to take up position at the Safari Park End before the first goal came from James Edgar.

James Edgar

We have had a problem maintaining confidence when we have gone behind to an early goal, but there looked to be no chance of the visitors doing likewise.

New dad Sam Staunton Turner avoids Clitheroe's Bradley Carroll

On an overcast but not dark day, most of my exposures were coming in at 1/500s, with ISO varying until the end of the half.

Lloyd Dean 1/400s, f/5, ISO3200

Shutter speeds dropped rapidly for the second half ...

Michael Simpson 1/250s, f/5.6, ISO3200

... so I switched to shutter priority ...

Rogues & Rascals Barbershop Man of the Match Dominic Marie - 1/320 f/4.5 ISO8000

... gradually dropping the shutter speed.

Phil Bannister 1/200s f/5.6, a surprisingly precise ISO14368

We looked to have secured the points with a second goal from Rob Doran ...

... but the curse of the last ten minutes struck, with Clitheroe's goalkeeper pulling off some point winning saves, whilst they scored two, the second with almost the last kick of the game.

After the game, we had presentations for the Rogues & Rascals Barbershop Man of the Match and Warrington Motors Player of the Month awards, which went more smoothly than in recent weeks, with the winners, Dominic Marie and James McCulloch identified and ready to have their picture taken whilst they were still comfortably in the bar.

The rest of the pictures from the game can be seen on the club website here, and on Google Photos here.

Final score: Prescot Cables 2 (Edgar, Doran) Clitheroe 2.

Top of the league

One disadvantage of a trip to Clitheroe is that the train journey is somewhat slow, made slower when I looked at my options for this game by a higher fare via Manchester than Preston, which has not been the case in the past, and lengthy waits in Preston and Blackburn. I looked for alternatives, and found a bus. Preston Bus Station was on the large side when it was built in 1968, and is now four or five times the size it needs to be, lending it a somewhat spectral air. With apologies to the Prestonian Francis Thompson,
     The stands are full of shades near the service for the coast,
     And the ghostly buses wait for the boarding of a ghost.
           O my Bristols and my Fleetlines long ago!

Joining me aboard the 280 to Skipton were a young couple with Norman shields, a pike, a bow and quiver of arrows, and large bags that may have contained chain mail. I thought they might be defending against Yorkshire incursions across the County Brook in the Barnoldswick area, but they got off just before me in Clitheroe. I hope they were not planning to keep watch from the Castle, as heavy rain meant the advertised views were once again unavailable.

The County Brook - undefended against marauding Yorkshirepersons

On arrival, I adjourned to the Ale House. I was not surprised to learn later that Richie, our leader in beer and pub choices, and his wife Sharon had been in. I missed them by a few minutes, as they followed a recommendation to try the newly opened Bowland Brewery Beer Hall at Holmes Mill. As he declared himself satisfied, I tried it myself after the game. I found it busy, with people mainly at tables, but with a few wing armchairs dotted around for the likes of me with a pint and a paper

Clitheroe is one of the better equipped grounds for watching in the rain, as there is cover on three sides and seats on the fourth. I took up position behind the goal we were attacking. After 10 minutes I was rewarded by James Edgar crossing in ...

... for Rob Doran to score.

This makes it in on the "goal is a goal" principle, but also on the "how is that even possible?" principle. If I were to put my foot down at that angle, hopping would be my preferred mode of transport for some time to come.

The crowd were doing their best to keep dry.

Bram Johnstone

I continued my series of unsettlingly large advertising faces.

Ben Cartwright

We held on to our lead for the first half. The hosts were awarded a penalty early in the second, and took the opportunity to level the score. They fully tested our defence, and Tom Brocklehurst put in a strong performance.

With seven or eight minutes to go, Joe Nicholson released a shot from 20 yards out (the distance handily confirmed by the pitch markings).

With this goal securing the win, and Farsley Celtic being involved in the FA Cup, we took an unaccustomed position at the top of the table - I think for the first time since promotion from the North West Counties League in 2003. Keeping last season's team together and having two competitive cup fixtures in pre season has enabled us to press home an early advantage. With the League not having midweek fixtures because half would fall to FA Cup replays (an approach with which I am not sure I agree, every fixture completed is one less to worry about in March after a bad winter), we would be there for at least a week - hopefully longer, but the week was guaranteed.

The rest of the pictures can be seen on the club website here, and on Google Photos here.

Final score: Clitheroe 1 Prescot Cables 2 (Doran, Joe Nicholson)

Unseasonably warm

The first couple of weeks of November were unseasonably warm. I cannot remember getting so far into the month without the thermostat turning my central heating on. However, the rain was more seasonal, with some expressing concern before Prescot Cables' game against Clitheroe that it might be rained off. A number of other local fixtures fell to the weather, but ours survived with no sign of standing water. This probably helped our attendance: we certainly had a couple of visitors from Skelmersdale United - either to see how Andy Paxton was getting on or on a scouting mission.

We were joined by a German guest. Dr Mike, who watched Cables whilst researching at the University of Liverpool, had brought some relatives and friends for a short visit. He and most of his party procured tickets for Old Trafford via a method that sounded as dodgy as it was inconvenient, but his cousin Markus, a supporter of SpVgg Unterhaching, elected to join us in Prescot.

More heavy rain fell when we were in the pub before the game, but by the start the sun had returned temporarily. I made my way around the pitch in the opposite direction to my normal practice, going first behind our own goal. I was rewarded with some pictures of our defence with the sun behind them.

Jonah O'Reilly with Clitheroe's Sefton Gonzales

With the sun low in the sky, some pictures had a lot of back lighting, not necessarily from looking into the sun, but also from its reflection on the perimeter fence. This could be dealt with using the raw converter but would probably have been unsalvageable relying on the JPEG from the camera.

Antony Shinks - as captured on camera ...

... and the picture rescued

The rugby was on the television in the bar...

The game was goalless at half time. Rob Doran giving us the lead early in the second half. Clitheroe restored parity through Sefton Gonzales fifteen minutes from the end. Although both sides looked as though they could score, we were primarily working to retain the point. The defence performed well, with some sterling work from Marcus Burgess ...

... and good backup when needed.

Joe Herbert clears off the line

Another solid performance, assisted by some tactical timing from the crowd returning balls that had gone into the space on the gasworks side to purchase a few seconds breathing space, ensured we held on to a hard fought point against a team currently in a play off position.

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

Final score: Prescot Cables 1 (Doran) Clitheroe 1.

Seeing the view

An attraction of Clitheroe Castle is the view of the Ribble Valley and surrounding hills. The Clitheroe Tourist Board may not like my pointing this out, but on my last few visits, the advertised views were unavailable due to inclement weather. I did not visit the Castle this time, but the view from around the town revealed hills I had not previously realised existed.

The Market Place sometimes feels like a Lowry painting, and some sources assume "A Street in Clitheroe" depicts Church Street, off the Market Place. Closer inspection reveals that the building in the painting is not the Library, and a quick trip with Mr Google's camera cars reveals that the scene is a quarter of a mile away at the foot of Castle Gate, just down the hill from Wool Craft.

Google Earth currently shows an estate agent in the Market Place opposite the Library. In good news for the discerning drinker, this is now The Ale House, described on its website as a micropub, although, as it has seats on two floors and more than one toilet, it is perhaps a minipub. Given that the common experience in other pubs was finding beer coming to the end of the barrel as they started to pull the first pint, a fair proportion of the travelling support eventually joined us. To be fair, the first pint in the Ale House met a similar fate, but they had enough other beers to make up for it.

I have never needed to consider the position of the sun at Clitheroe's ground, but the pitch is aligned north - south, so that was going to cause problems for one half. For the first, we played into the sun, and I took up position on the covered standing behind the goal.

Almost before I was ready to start taking pictures, the pristine playing surface acquired its first divot.

Rob Doran was making a welcome return, and quickly reminded us what we had been missing, with a goal after 11 minutes.

Rob Doran

The advantage was short lived, according to the timestamps on the pictures, it was precisely one and a half minutes later that we kicked off after conceding the hosts' first goal.

A league game means you can use the team sheet to name players with confidence.

Leon Williams

By half time I was ready for refreshments. The steak and kidney pies had run out, but the meat and potato was a more than acceptable substitute. Meanwhile Ben and his father wondered what the Train Crew were plotting.

For the second half, we were playing with the sun behind us, which puts the players in shadow even when you find a spot where you are not looking into it.

Mike Kennedy

A Clitheroe goal straight after half time probably killed off any chance we had of getting back into a winning position: whatever we did up front, it was apparent we were missing key players in defence. Although there was plenty of time on paper, a third goal from the hosts ten minutes later effectively put the game beyond reach.

James Edgar

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

Final score: Clitheroe 3 Prescot Cables 1 (Doran)

Stepping on our blue suede shoes

There was reason for optimism ahead of Prescot Cables' game against Clitheroe. Our last game was a morale boosting win against Padiham, and Clitheroe's league position suggested that this could be winnable. There was also the club Christmas party in the evening, with an Elvis tribute act. Ah, hang on, not that Elvis.

Both sides had been affected by the weather: the visitors last played 21 days previously, and we had to wait 14 days. Many supporters were unsure whether this game would go ahead, as it had been raining heavily until the small hours of the morning. On arrival, we could see the benefits of having the ground to ourselves: we can postpone Reserve games to avoid damage to the pitch, whereas for AFC Liverpool the referee only considered whether it was playable on the day, not the medium term good of the surface.

The day was reasonably bright, and the evenings had been getting lighter for a week or so. I have observed this before, but did not know the reason. However, the BBC have published a handy explanation.

We started well enough, with some decent attacks and Mason Ryan having a shot saved. However, the visitors started to get into the game after about a quarter of an hour, and were rewarded with two goals in quick succession just before half time. This was not irretrievable, and there was an increase in tempo early in the second half when Sam Corlett and new signing Oscar Durnin came on.

Oscar Durnin

It was not to last, Clitheroe's third goal starting the collapse, with three more being added in the next 15 minutes or so. Even a late penalty brought no relief when Rob Doran hit the crossbar and one of our players was adjudged to be offside in the resulting scramble for the rebound.

In a one sided game it can be difficult to get usable pictures, the collection this week was smaller than the 60 I usually aim for. It was not easy finding some for the Merseymart either. I send four: they need to be the right shape for the space, and I make sure they are of different players - without that restriction I could have provided a complete set featuring Jack Phillips.

Jack Phillips

Rob Doran

Daniel Whitehall

James McCulloch

I found the four above, only to realise in the newsagent's on Tuesday that they do not do a Merseymart in Christmas week.

I did not make it to the party in the end, not shifting from the pub after the game. I saw a couple of pictures, and it looked well attended. I first heard of Elvis when he died, but it looked as though people for whom he was the background to their formative years like to turn out for a tribute act. The moment of the day for me came when a gentleman came round the pub selling clothes of what may have been suspect provenance. Our friend Tony responded with a completely straight face and asked, "Have you got any lawnmowers?".

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

Final score: Prescot Cables 0, Clitheroe 6