Cup preliminaries

Everything was ready as I arrived for Prescot Cables' FA Cup Preliminary Round game against Trafford. The teams were arriving, the bar was stocked, and our Chairman's lucky FA Cup suit (which is only intermittently lucky) was pressed and ready. As the visiting coaching staff arrived, Andy Paxton lent them a couple of poles for their goalkeeping warm up to save their going back to the car to get theirs ... just as one, not observing this transaction, went back to the car to get theirs.

I was early as I had been commissioned to take the team photo. Last year's was a rushed affair, but I made a careful note of how we came to have a rather lopsided lineup, and had plans to avoid similar pitfalls. The only obstacle was rain, and that held off for a while longer than forecast, so there was no problem. Unfortunately, communication had gone wrong, Andy Paxton only found out in the morning, so had not been able to brief the players, so we postponed it for a week. All was not lost, as coach Roy Grundy knew he would be away next week, so posed for his individual picture.

Roy Grundy

Having arrived before the turnstile opened, I had not had to pay to get in. I therefore headed to the bar.

There were a couple of changes from the last two games, with Jack Phillips and Phil Bannister making their first starts of the season, and Neil Weaver making his first competitive start for the club.

Neil Weaver

The weather was changeable, as was my camera position. I went out into the open into a few spots of rain...

Nathan Quirk

... then put the cover on as the rain got heavier, retreated to the Gasworks side to avoid the wind blowing rain on to the front of the lens...

Lloyd Dean

... only to find the gusts were coming from more than one direction, once again retreated to the Safari Park End when the sun came out and I was looking into it...

Jacob Jones

... then went back under the stand when it started to rain again.

Trafford had a strong side, with reports suggesting they had recruited a number of those of last season's Warrington side who did not want to commit to the travelling in the higher division. They scored what would prove to be the only goal of the game just before half time.

For the second half, it looked as though it had stopped raining, so I went outside to cover the same side of the pitch as for most of the first half (and therefore the opposite side of our team).

Josh Nicholson

However, the rain drove me back under the cover.

The Management watch Jack Phillips. The visitors have recruited Mr Baxter from Grange Hill.

I was happy with the ViewNX software, minimising grain, but not noise reducing out the rain.

Phil Bannister

The Rogues & Rascals Barbershop Man of the Match award was won by Bram Johnstone. I am making progress on the quick processing for this, converting to jpeg on the camera (much better quality than on the phone), uploading with the Nikon WMU at full size, and then a quick crop with the phone's built in editor.

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 0 Trafford 1

New Cammels and new buses

Having been in Chester last Tuesday, I stopped on the way back to see what team former Prescot Cables manager Neil Prince had assembled at Cammell Laird 1907, playing AFC Darwen in the FA Cup. Although I had my camera equipment with me, I thought of an incognito visit, until I was greeted by a friend of these pages, former Cables goalkeeper Ben Morrow, who was on the bench for the hosts.

Ben Morrow (left)

There were a couple of players I recognised for the hosts, Liam Dodd, who played a large part of the 2014-15 season for Prescot Cables ...

Liam Dodd

... and Jamie Hayes, who featured in the early part of last season, before moving to the North West Counties playoff winners Barnton.

Jamie Hayes

Neil also played himself for the first half.

Neil Prince

I took up position behind the goal Cammell Laird were attacking, a good choice, as they put in a strong performance, being 3-0 ahead after half an hour.

The lights were turned on about five minutes from the end of the half, a welcome move, as the lighting just before they are needed often proves tricky - the images on the camera screen betraying this, with the automatic conversion process on the computer confirming.

For the second half, I moved to the fence by the bus garage, where, fortunately, they were not using the bus washer. However, of interest to some readers, there were four bright, shiny new Enviro 200 Euro 6s lined up by the fence, the first I have seen in the wild. These pages travel a lot by bus, and we generally know what we are travelling on.

The second half started slowly, until the visitors were awarded a penalty on the hour. They then pursued their chance to get back in the game more forcefully as the half went on. This coincided with the rain starting to fall quite heavily. You can tell when I am not following my own team - had I been doing so, I would have remained at my post and put on a cover, but in this case I headed round to the other side of the ground and into the seats.

A second goal from Darwen in the 86th minute made for a nervous few minutes for the hosts, who narrowly managed to avoid extra time.

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

Final score: Cammell Laird 3 AFC Darwen 2

Bullet points

With Prescot Cables having no further games before the start of the league season - having had two cup games, I can see the point of not going back to friendlies - I looked to the Hallmark Security League or the Emirates FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round for action. I never understood why the FA Cup starts a week earlier this year, but it meant many teams started their season in this competition. As somewhere I had not been, with easy train connections, I chose Alsager Town at home to Barton Town Old Boys.

The hosts started playing in 1968, making them the same age as me, although they had a year or two when they were disbanded before being reformed in 1988-9. I was a student then, so you could say I followed a similar trajectory. They are known as the Bullets after the ammunition factory that has been located near the town since the Second World War. The visitors, meanwhile, could easily have been called Barton Town and Old Boys, as they were formed when two clubs merged to make the best of limited volunteer resources a few years ago.

The ground entrance was a little hard to find, off a residential street. The close suggested by Mr Google's maps backed on to the ground, as I could see the floodlights, but did not provide access. As I tried the next close, I noted the visitors' coach driver had chosen not to watch the game, but to remain in his vehicle and read the paper, so I could ask if he saw which way his passengers had gone. As it was, I had found the way in.

Once inside, the pitch was down some steps, and offered a range of cover on the two sides. I found the ideal spot for the weather conditions: in the shade, with the sun behind me, a nice pillar to lean on and a cooling breeze.

Watching televised games in the 1970s, northern grounds all seemed to have an advert for Mornflake Oats. They still produce oat based comestibles, and their advertising is more colourful than I remember.

Speaking of food, clubs that appear later in the competition have been accused of being a home to the prawn sandwich brigade. We do not hold with such things in these pages, being more particular in our choice of fish.

The strong sunlight proved a challenge, with which View NX2's automatic settings generally coped well. I tried processing some raw files with my choice of settings to see if I could produce a better result, rapidly finding I could not.

I was alongside the half the hosts were attacking, a good place to be as they took a firm grip on the game, scoring after three minutes, and keeping up the pressure to add a second a couple of minutes before half time.

Alsager score their second goal

At half time, the visitors went to the dressing room in the conventional manner, whilst Alsager elected to gather on the pitch in front of me, where the manager's team talk drew a small but attentive audience. I stayed put for the second half: as an occasional visitor with no horse in the race, I saw no need to change my comfortable position.

After Alsager scored early in the second half, the supporters behind me were still apprehensive, losing a three goal lead apparently not being unknown in these parts. They relaxed, however, with a further goal, as no-one could remember throwing away four, even with a consolation goal for the visitors.

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

Final score: Alsager Town 4 Barton Town Old Boys 1

Up Ended

For those whose interest in the FA Cup extends only to the Preliminary Rounds, there are things we look for in the draw. Aside from a winnable home tie, an away game should provide a good day out, and be somewhere we would not normally visit. Glossop North End answers the first requirement, being nestled in the Peak District, and in any of the last ten years would have answered the second, except that this year they joined us in the league, so we played them at home last week, and will be visiting again later in the season.

A small but select group from our Train Crew travelled on our traditional 10.22. On arrival in Glossop, the other members of the party had some local hostelries they wanted to try. I went for a walk in the hills, so stayed on the train to Hadfield, and took a circular route taking in the old Woodhead railway route and two of the Longendale reservoirs, rejoining the away support in the excellent Star a couple of hours later.

The ground is one of the more picturesque in the division - provided you keep the chimney out of view, although it helps you see where the ground is from miles around.

This was the first match in charge for Andy Paxton.

Having started the season with three poor performances, there was a feeling that some of the new players were not as good as those who finished last season. Whilst that may be the case for some, of whom we may not be seeing much more, others were potentially good players who had not been seen to their best advantage.

There was just one completely new face in the starting XI.

Josh Nicholson (foreground)

This picture allows us to play "FA Cup spot the difference". Most clubs at our level have a kit suitable for league games, i.e. a starting XI plus five substitutes. In the Cup we can name seven, so it is not uncommon for one or two players' kits to be colour matched, but slightly different in detail. Comparing Josh with Shane Glean in the background, we can see Josh has drawn the slightly different shorts and socks.

Team captain James McCulloch was back from holiday, a welcome return for his leadership and organisational ability on the field.

James McCulloch

We started well, with a goal from Rob Doran ...

Rob Doran lines up his successful free kick

... and held on to our lead for the first half with a disciplined team performance.

At half time it was time for food, in the shape of the local Mettrick's pies. Richie, our leader in beer and pub choices, visited last season, and reported that Mettrick's shop had a banner indicating their pies had been sold at last season's FA Cup final, possibly because of the Hill-Wood family's connections with Glossop North End and Arsenal, or because the pies have won several awards. Either way, I suspect they were sold at Wembley for a somewhat higher price than the reasonable £2 (including peas and gravy) at Surrey Street.

The hosts better organised start to the season started to show in the second half.

Joe Herbert in defence

Some were keeping tight hold of the ball.

Jazz takes a rest

Unfortunately we could not keep the lead until the end, with the equaliser coming in the 89th minute, and the winning goal for Glossop from former Cables player Jamie Rainford in injury time.

Obviously it was disappointing to lose having led all game, and the prize money would have been handy for club funds but there were positives to take. The team played as one, and some of those who looked lacklustre in the previous three games gave a much better performance under the new management.

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

Final score: Glossop North End 2 Prescot Cables 1 (Doran).

When Sunday comes

I am not keen on commercial football on a Sunday. I am happy with occasional recreational or charity games, but Saturday for football and Sunday for church seems a good division to me. Unfortunately, with ground shares, some games have to move, which happened with Prescot Cables' FA Cup First Qualifying Round game away to FC United of Manchester, currently playing at Stalybridge Celtic. I am not sure it was a necessary clash, this round of the Cup was drawn before Stalybridge's league fixtures, so it would have been possible to give the landlords an away fixture. Not that the FA are even capable of doing that for a team's own fixtures, a couple of years ago Dulwich Hamlet were given a fixture on the weekend of the second qualifying round of the FA Trophy against opponents who had already drawn a bye to that round.

Fortunately, I was able to make it to the game after my church duties. At this level, if you spot someone in team colours, you can assume they are going to the match and safely go in the same direction. There were a few home supporters on my train, so I was in something of a procession, even if I joined the part that stopped for a sandwich at Tesco on the way.

I initially thought the programme was a slim volume, but it was mostly content, and a decent amount of it. Wires may have been crossed between our clubs on our information, as they listed most of our current squad, but still had Dave Powell as manager - and included a picture of Shaun Reid. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Stalybridge is a much better ground for FC United's crowds, usually around the 2000 mark, than their previous home at Bury: using all sides of the ground makes for a better atmosphere for home and visiting supporters. They had their usual collection of banners - printed ...

James Cairns

... and a bit more hand made.

Joe Evans

Whilst this blog approves of the catering choices expressed, sources tell me a prawn sandwich was spotted in the board room, although I am not sure if the landlords manage the food supply. There was a sweet stall, so I bought some good old fashioned pear drops - the roof of my mouth should grow back in a couple of weeks.

The home team's shirts had a retro feel, with no advertising apart from the League sponsor, and a shade of red less vivid than many available on today's synthetic fabrics, that gives the look of a traditional cotton shirt. Modernity is represented by the socks.

Sam Corlett

FC United have held a strong position in the Premier Division for some years, so they were always the favourites. It is quite possible to upset the league order if everything goes right and you catch the higher placed team on an off day: I watched Worthing doing precisely that against an injury hit Dulwich Hamlet the previous day. There was to be no upset today, with what looked as though it would be four goals without reply.

We hoped for a penalty when Jack Phillips was brought down, but the photographic evidence suggests the referee was correct in awarding a free kick. Supporters are usually watching the player, and see him land in the area, whereas the referee is trained to look at the feet, which are what matter in determining a foul and its location.

Jack Phillips is brought down ...

... and Mark Kilroy takes the free kick

However, Jon Bathurst came forward with a long range shot scoring a last minute consolation goal.

Jon Bathurst

At 1,001 the crowd was one of the the best of the round, and the share of the gate receipts will provide a welcome injection to club funds, but this was 45% down on FC United's League crowd this season. Dulwich Hamlet's crowd against Worthing was a quarter down on the average - partly due to less interest in the Cup, and partly to League figures including all season ticket holders. However, some of the drop must be due to the timing - for supporters at our level, Sunday is often for something other than football. In later rounds drawn two weeks before the game, this is unavoidable, but the fixture compilers could have avoided it here.

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

Final score: FC United of Manchester 4, Prescot Cables 1 (Bathurst)

Second chance

Whenever anyone refers to being on the road to Wembley in the FA Cup, I would be better equipped to make a witty response if I were to keep abreast of whether Wembley FC are still in the competition. Still, as a result of very much playing to the final whistle, Prescot Cables were still in, with a replay at home to 1874 Northwich, if not for the Cup, then for an away fixture at FC United of Manchester in the next round, the attendance for which is likely to provide a welcome injection to club funds for the winner.

We probably had a slight advantage: it is often said the best way to defeat opponents from a higher league is to kill the tie off at home. However, Northwich would not be giving us an easy ride.

They were playing in claret, not a popular first choice colour at this level, so it makes a logical away colour. It is not the brightest of colours under lights but at least it is not dark red.

Jack Phillips

It had been a sunny day, so we started brightly enough, although the sun soon went down.

Jack Hont

Our visitors contributed to a healthy crowd of 291, so there was unaccustomed company for those of us who frequent the gasworks side.

The crowd pays close attention to James McCulloch's options for a free kick

Most people thought the first half had been fairly even, although I thought the visitors had the better of it, based on an unscientific assessment of the time my lenses were trained on our end of the pitch.

For the second half I was a bit slow going round to the gasworks side, so I was behind the goal when Rob Doran advanced for our first goal. In normal light it would have been a great picture, but it did not work with all the light coming from the side, even with the "goal is a goal" principle.

Rob Doran

We might need to establish a "penalty save is a penalty save" principle, with the honours this time falling to Ciaran Gibson.

Ciaran Gibson maintains our lead

With the visitors drawing level shortly afterwards, extra time was looming, when, in the last minute, Rob Doran struck again, another goal with no picture. Having got out of jail in the first game, we were through to the next round.

Of course these games are not good for the nerves. They are not good for the mental faculties either. On the way to the Sun for a drink with the pharmacologists, I was buttonholed outside the Hope & Anchor by one of our players, who had not been in the squad, and to whom I had spoken earlier in the ground, who wanted to refresh his memory of the correct name of our opponents. For some reason, I felt the need to tell him the score and competition as well.

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

Final score: Prescot Cables 2 (Doran 2), 1874 Northwich 1

The Posh Spice reunion

Off the field, the draw for the Preliminary Round of the FA Cup looked a good proposition - a game away to local, well supported opposition, 1874 Northwich, which gave the prospect of some gate receipts being left over to share without being eaten up by travel costs. Our hosts were formed when Northwich Victoria left the town, by supporters who felt the club now playing at Flixton were unlikely to return to Northwich, or to be an adequate continuation of the history and tradition of Northwich Victoria. Currently they play at Winsford United.

The walk from the station is through a residential area. There was evidence of an Oddfellows' Arms, converted into a convenience store, which seemed not to have been convenient, as it in turn had closed. The only pub on the way was the Prince's Feathers, a friendly establishment, somewhat lacking in its beer range, but with some.decent bottled ciders.

On the field, we were expecting a tough game, with Northwich having made a good start to their season. The.ground once had a greyhound track round the pitch: I remember the track lights still being there when I last visited for a pre season game a few years ago. I took up position in line with the goal we were attacking.

Stephen Milne

One of the home stewards, having confirmed I was photographing for the club website, invited me to go on the pitch side of the rails, on the old track, but I opted to stay put.

Having commented in pre season that not many clubs play in green, once again we encountered the second opponents in a row in the colour.

James McCulloch

There was some co-ordinated singing from the other side of the ground, which we tend not to do much, only when we have a full turnout for an away game. Eventually I recognised a group we had last seen in our relegation season of 2008-9. For ease of reference, we will call them the Posh Spices, after one of their more memorable songs, a scurrilous rhyme about which of our players Mrs Beckham may have had in mind when spending time with her husband. They were students then, and picked our FA Cup game at Congleton Town out of a hat, then came to five or six other games that season, including having a Celebrations tin they were using as a makeshift drum at Witton Albion confiscated on the grounds it was not a proper instrument. With our first Saturday foray into Cheshire in the FA Cup since then, they were having a reunion.

The Posh Spices watch Mark Kilroy - as does a supporter who happened to be standing next to them

I was standing next to the group for the second half, which was an amusing way to spend it, although I was at risk of not being able to hold the camera steady. Being 1-0 down at half time, and Northwich scoring almost immediately after the restart, things did not look good, although Charlie Stoker restored hope with a goal shortly afterwards. I sent this shot to the Merseymart as being his heading for goal, although at this point he has some distance to go.

Charlie Stoker

A third goal from Northwich seemed to have put the game out of reach as the rain started.

Jack Hont

A welcome return by Rob Doran made a difference, with one of his shots being put wide for a corner which led to a bundled goal from Liam Dodd.

Rob Doran

Liam Dodd

The game still looked to have slipped away, until a long range shot from Assistant Manager Neil Black secured a replay when we would have had no cause for complaint if we had been knocked out, and kept the Posh Spices still singing when I left a few minutes later to catch my train.

Neil Black

The team celebrate having another chance on Tuesday

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

Final score 1874 Northwich 3, Prescot Cables 3 (Stoker, Dodd, Black)

Sports jacket weather

On the way to the game last week I had some random thoughts about the utility of the sports jacket. Some will know that I am rarely seen out of such a garment, wearable with anything from jeans and t-shirt to collar and tie, and with plenty of pockets for programmes, golden goal tickets, lens caps, and the other paraphernalia of the match day photographer. I thought of finding a picture of a match official of the 1950s so attired, but I subsequently found they usually wore blazers, so I had to make do with yours truly, snapping a Dulwich Hamlet Supporters' game on a warm, sunny morning in ... er ... November.

Ideal wear for photographing sport. Photo by Tony Squires, crop by me

On that occasion, I was talking to Mishi, a member of the Supporters' Team and Club Committee, and of the Grounds for Concern blog, which he has not had time to update for a while, but which has meticulously detailed views of an impressive range of grounds. The conversation went something like this:-

"Call me old fashioned ..."
"You're old fashioned Mish."
"Well, what about you - sports jackets and rugby shirts, how bloody old fashioned is that?"

Well, I never said I was not ...

Prescot Cables' were at home last weekend to Buxton in the First Qualifying Round of the FA Cup. The structure of the draw means it is unlikely that a club starting in the Preliminary Round will make it to a shot at glory in the First Round Proper where the Football League clubs come in, but the prize fund provides a welcome addition to club funds for the winners of each round.

Good weather in September means the sun is low in the sky, and at Prescot that means shadows from the side, particularly in the first half, when we were attacking the Safari Park End. A lot of tweaking of the light was required on the computer, although half in light, half in shadow can make for a good picture

Jonathon Lynch

Sometimes the players are not only half in light, half in shadow, but light is reflected off the grass, and the advertising boards are in shadow.

Mike Smith competes with Buxton's Neil Stevens, with James McCulloch ready to collect the stray ball ...

... but Mike is first back on his feet (and back in the light)

The lighting was much better in the second half, with most of the action front lit.

Ged Murphy goes for a header with Buxton's Jack Broadhead

This meant that, unusually, for the slideshow I used more pictures (by two) from the second half than the first. The selection is a mixture of pictures of competition for the ball, and individual shots that the players like for showing to friends and family and profile pictures on sites like Facebook and Twitter. Normally, for the latter I use the first decent shots I come to, so I get a lot of what I need from the first half.

Even the goal net caught the sun for a pronounced light effect.

Rob Doran and Buxton's Charlie Johnson

Buxton, being in the Premier Division, were the favourites, and the only goal of the game came for them in the 76th minute. My view was obstructed, but this was originally recorded as an own goal from Antony Shinks, although the record was subsequently updated to correctly credit the latter. It is quite clear on Buxton's video (at about 14 minutes) that Antony did not have contact with the ball, but I can see how it may have looked more uncertain from some angles.

Antony Shinks and Leon Osborne in the first half

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