It's Saturday, it must be Yorkshire

Prescot Cables' game at Farsley Celtic was our third visit of the month to Yorkshire, and another experiment in seeing how late I could leave home and get to the game. I arrived in plenty of time with the assistance of some nifty footwork to catch an unadvertised connection at Manchester Victoria. My footwork may one day not need to be so nifty if they fix the 10mph "temporary" speed restriction on the approach to the station from Liverpool, which has been there since two departments of British Rail could not agree who was responsible for paying to rectify it in 1987.

Walking down a side street on the way to the ground, I passed houses with the northern feature of the front looking exactly like the back, some having front doors opening to one street, and the back to another (a proper street, not an alley*). I would have said I was walking past fronts, were it not for the washing lines across the street just above head height. It was as well it was not a drying day, or I would have been navigating past the residents' thermals. On arrival, I fortified myself with a hot pork pie with peas and gravy, which, given the wind, I had to eat quickly to stop it becoming a cold pork pie (pleasant enough) with cold peas and gravy (not pleasant at all).

When we kicked off, I was alongside our own half, so I moved at a leisurely pace behind our goal and down the open side. We continued the experiment of having Chris Almond and James Edgar at full back. There was also a start for Josef Faux.

Josef Faux

The hosts had the wind behind them for the first half, and they looked intent on making the most of it, so we did well to only be a goal behind at half time.

We thought we might not make the most of the wind in the second half when Farsley scored a few minutes in. However, a couple of minutes later, Dominic Marie beat the keeper with a shot from the corner of the penalty area. At this point it had started to rain, so I had moved to the side of the pitch to keep it behind me, so I was in just the wrong place for a decent picture. I recommend, however, watching the video here, it is well worth it!

Dominic Marie

You can see at the end of the clip that we were keen to retrieve the ball for a quick restart, knowing our best hope for a result was to keep up the tempo, use the wind, and allow the hosts as little time on the ball as they allowed us. The wind was the one constant part of the weather, the rest was changeable, never raining heavily, but enough to blow drizzle on the front of the lens, interspersed with the sun breaking through the clouds.

Lloyd Dean

I read a film review once which described the lighting, "as if the only time the director had to speak to the lighting engineer was to utter three words, 'smoky blue grey'". The hosts' colour dominates the visual environment, and their chairman's cigar provides the smoke.

Harry Cain

The second half saw a decent performance against a team nine points behind Lancaster City at the top of the table with three games in hand, but it was not enough for more than one goal, despite hitting the post two or three times in the last five minutes.

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

Final score: Farsley Celtic 2 Prescot Cables 1 (Marie)

* or an entry, ginnel, twitten, back passage etc.

Going and staying

Following our game at Lancaster, where we had performed well but been unable to secure a result, we were due another challenging game, hosting Farsley Celtic, who always field a strong, organised side, and are ruthless at ensuring opponents have no time on the ball. As it was, the news value of the game would be overshadowed by personnel changes afterwards.

For the photographer, this started as another bright and clear day, as we have been fortunate to enjoy this autumn, with the shadows further lengthening as expected in October.

Sam Staunton Turner

We were not without our chances in the first few minutes.

Jack Phillips shoots - unfortunately over the bar

However, Farsley started to impose themselves on the game, scoring their first after 15 minutes.

We were joined by some familiar faces in the crowd.

Bram Johnstone takes a throw in whilst Shaun Reid checks his eeeeeeeeeeeeee-mail

Whilst we had resisted strong pressure from the visitors, our chances were reduced just before half time when Jacob Jones brought down James Walshaw, conceding a penalty for Farsley's second goal, and being sent off for denying a goal scoring opportunity.

The sun went in for most of the second half, making for a more even light.

James McCulloch

As feared at half time, retrieving the game was beyond us, and the visitors added a third ten minutes from time. Once again, we had been unable to build on good performances in the previous two games.

The following day, Andy Paxton announced a timetable for his resignation due to work commitments. His last game was to be in the Liverpool Senior Cup against Ashton Town on 2nd November. This drew attention to our being scheduled to play twice in two days, which has since been addressed. Balancing work with football is an issue faced by almost everyone at this level, and only the individual can assess whether the balance is working. If Andy feels his work commitments are preventing his addressing our performance issues, he is to be commended for stepping aside whilst the situation is, hopefully, retrievable, with a stronger squad than when he arrived, and he plans to stay involved with the club to continue some of his work off the field.

Andy Paxton retrieves the ball against Ossett Albion

We also heard during the week that Jack Phillips is leaving us to join Colwyn Bay. He has had a useful second spell with the club, and I think he will leave something of a gap. My duties involve serving the whole team, so I try to avoid having obvious favourite players, but I know Jack better than I do most, so I will look out for the opportunity to catch up with him and his brother Anthony when we do not have a game. In the meantime this blog wishes him well (apart from when he is playing against us of course).

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 Farsley Celtic 3.

Feather behaviour

With Prescot Cables' game away to Ossett Albion at the weekend postponed, and heavy rain overnight taking out a few local games, I continued my practice over the last few weeks: if you cannot visit Yorkshire, the next best thing is for Yorkshire to visit you, with Burscough entertaining Farsley Celtic. As Prescot are due to play there next week, I could have conducted a scouting mission, but that would require a modicum of football knowledge, rather than just how to take pictures of it.

Burscough has a L40 postcode, the club are members of the Liverpool County FA, being just within the requisite 18 miles from Liverpool Town Hall, and many people have moved there from the city. However, on the bus from Ormskirk, the conversation between driver and passengers yielded the accents of deepest Lancashire. As I got on, discussion revolved around names for what I thought was a baby. The suggestion of Izzy, as in "is he male or female?" seemed an alarming way to refer to a child. My mind was put at rest when further details made it apparent the driver, by now talking to himself, was discussing a newly hatched budgerigar, and amused himself by settling on the not entirely original name of Budgie.

I lost a few pounds to a bug at the beginning of last month, and have kept a couple off, which came in handy at the unfeasibly narrow turnstiles. Once inside, I took up a fairly neutral position, slightly into the half Burscough were attacking. The sky was grey but not dark, so the light could best be described as flat, which sports were made for, as the action makes up for the lack of light and shadow effects.

I had not previously noticed a slight slope on the pitch away from the village end. In sports work, it is an advantage for still photography to have a low position in relation to the action, although it only seemed to have a particular effect along the touchline.

For the second half, I moved to the other side of the half way line staying with the hosts' attack (in a Lancashire v Yorkshire fixture, one has to take sides, however discreetly). I was nonetheless fairly neutral as to where I was pointing my lens, and in the pictures I selected to edit and show.

The game finished goalless. We all know there are 0-0 draws and 0-0 draws, and this was one between two sides strong in both attack and defence. The announcer at the end of the game said, to general agreement, that it was one of the best 0-0 draws we had seen in a while.

On the return, the bus looked not to be as handy as on the outward journey, leaving a couple of minutes before the end of the game. However, that view would ignore the excellent Hop Vine, and the opportunity for a pint of Peerless Knee Buckler IPA before catching the next one.

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

Final score: Burscough 0 Farsley Celtic 0.

Farsley - for a family day out

I planned to catch the 1022 to Prescot Cables' game at Farsley Celtic, but as soon as I woke up I thought this might not be a good idea. I was suffering from the after effects of a bug I picked up over Christmas. So, I was relieved when my travelling companions decided not to go for the drinks we had planned in Leeds, and I could have an extra hour in bed before catching the team coach. When I arrived, informal segregation was in place, with the players looking bright eyed and bushy tailed on one side of the street, and the travelling spectators looking slightly less so on the other.

The coach was a little delayed, as most of the vehicles had been out of use for a couple of weeks, and had trouble starting. I was half expecting the game to be called off, although Farsley's pitch drains well, and the area seemed less affected by rain than at home. There was a sign on the motorway warning of fog patches: it seemed a rather large patch, roughly the size of Yorkshire.

I was pleasantly surprised to be joined at the game by Dr Luke and his parents. Luke was returning to work in Nijmegen the following day, so Farsley seemed a good family day out (I know his father enjoys his football, something Luke only picked up when he started to watch Cables, so it made sense). I was starting to wonder how wise I had been leaving the house, as I did not even feel up to one of Growlers' pies.

We were playing towards the uncovered end, so, following events a couple of weeks ago, I made particular checks on my cover, and took up position level with the edge of the penalty area, near a floodlight pylon. I was definitely under the weather, and knew I was not going to keep up with adjusting my settings every few minutes, so I used the sports mode at ISO 6400 for the first half.

Charlie Duke makes his first start

I still did not get nearly as many frames as usual. We had held our own against a team on a good run of form, and the game was goalless at half time.

The home goalkeeper denies Darryl Patton

For the second half, I sat in the stand, which gives a decent view, and, with the tea bar, toilets, etc being the same side as the covered standing, not much foot traffic in front. I notched my ISO up to 12800, which served for most of the half, only needing to go up to 16000 in the last ten minutes or so.

Lloyd Dean

I do not generally attribute match losing decisions to the officials: what the players do is far more decisive, even when decisions go against you. However, the referee put the game out of our reach when he dismissed Marcus Burgess. My view of the foul was blocked by other players, but I saw the ball cross the line directly afterwards. I also only heard the whistle, but taking into account the speed of sound (worth a quarter of a second to where I was sitting), I am sure the referee blew it after the ball went in the goal. That would be consistent with his performance all afternoon, with free kicks frequently given after the ball had been played three or four times after the original foul.

On the basis of play being stopped by the whistle rather than the referee thinking about it, Farsley's goal should have stood, as the ball was in play when it went in. We would have been 1-0 down with a full team to try and get a goal back. As it was, the goal was disallowed. James Edgar went in goal, giving a creditable performance, but conceding the resultant penalty and two goals in quick succession at about 80 minutes meant the hosts continued their current good run of form.

James Edgar

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

Final score: Farsley Celtic 3 Prescot Cables 0.

Double pie, double peas

In London pie and mash shops, the ordering convention is "double pie" if you want two, and "double mash" for two portions of potato. On arrival at Farsley Celtic for our FA Trophy game, I headed to the tea bar, which was serving fresh local Growler's pies. I only had toast for breakfast, so, having had the steak before the match, I have to admit to also having the pork at half time. This being Yorkshire, the traditional accompaniment is peas rather than mash. The food and drink offering was completed by Wadworth's Dirty Rucker, advertising an event in a different sport, on hand pump in the bar. The name will have had people in these parts wondering what a ruck is.

The hosts made four changes from the league game the previous week. We made one, replacing Sam Staunton-Turner, who has returned to Skelmersdale.

I travelled on the team coach, so, unusually for me, arrived well before kick off. Whilst books talk about taking time to find a suitable position, in football the location of the goals and and stand, and where the sun is shining are the main considerations. I have been to Farsley enough times too know the ground well, and I was mindful of my observations last week about moving around, so I decided to experiment. I started in front of the tea bar.

Rob Doran

This was not the best place, as it was one of the more populated parts of the ground. I prefer less crowded areas, as you avoid somebody leaning in front of you for a better view at the crucial moment.

After some time in the conventional position behind the goal, I moved to the far side and worked my way along.

Phil Bannister

I went beyond the dugout and alongside our own half and was happy with the results. Farsley's performance was stronger than the previous week, so I was rewarded with some closer pictures than normal of our defence.

Marcus Burgess

I captured some movement forward from the queue for the second part of lunch. We went in at half time a goal behind.

Lloyd Dean

I decided to move around around again for the second half. This was complicated by the sun's being out. The first half had been cloudy, with the mist from the morning only fully lifting just before the start. We were playing with the sun behind us. I started on the stand side where I was mainly shooting across the sunlight.

James McCulloch

I then worked round behind the goal we were attacking, ending up between the dugouts.

George Lomax

The sun appeared to bring some moisture out of the ground, so, looking into it, the mist had returned. It is possible to remove this almost completely on the computer, but I tried to keep the effect.

Jonah O'Reilly

Unfortunately, the result was not as good as the pictures: Farsley came out stronger after half time, and their second goal probably sealed the result, with our looking unlikely to come back, and in the event being unable to prevent two more goals.

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

Final score: Farsley Celtic 4 Prescot Cables 0

Naming names part 3

When a club folds a new club founded in their place has to adopt some variation of their name. Farsley AFC, formed in 2010, had until recently been in such a position. I am not sure of the rules regarding how long a club has wait to revert to the old name, or whether the FA consult the traditional entrails, but the club obtained permission to revert to Farsley Celtic this season.

The visitors have had a poor start to the season, only recording their first win in midweek. However, they have been a strong side in the past and I suspect they will not finish the season in their current position.

Joe Herbert added himself to our happily growing list of scorers for the season. One problem with your number 4 going round scoring, especially if you photograph from behind the goal, is that if you do not get the goal, you do not always have a decent picture of the player to substitute. Whilst I do not have a hard and fast rule for whether a picture of a goal works, as a rough rule of thumb, if the ball is more than the player's height away from him, it is unlikely to be of use as a single photograph. This one did not quite make it: the distance between ball and player is enough that even Joe might not remember it as his goal.

I was pondering this whilst listening to the excellent Forward the Hamlet podcast, which had an interview with one of the official Dulwich Hamlet photographers, Duncan Palmer, in which he discussed moving around the pitch, and getting better shots of the defence and goalkeeper, which I think I should do more.

A second goal came from Lloyd Dean, a more familiar presence at my end of the pitch.

Lloyd Dean

I could have done with following the approach of looking at the defence for the second half, as the visitors came out more strongly.

Marcus Burgess

Not that we were without action in the half we were attacking.

Rob Doran gets away from Farsley's Harley Wigley

Our new kit has shirts numbered up to 22, which came in handy, as our physio Nicola was kept busy with two blood injuries in quick succession, with Joe Herbert suffering a nosebleed, and, as soon as he was back on the pitch, Sam Staunton-Turner sustaining a cut to the face.

We had a couple of new faces coming on from the bench.

George Lomax

Aiden Kirkbride

Our third substitute, Jamie Hayes, had joined us under Neil Prince, and then been injured, which gave us a spot of bother identifying him on the team photo - when you see a player again it is a relief to know you got his name right the first time. Once he was back in action, he quickly established a claim for a place.

Jamie Hayes

The result left us scratching our heads - none of us could remember the last time we won three games in a row!

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

Final score: Prescot Cables 2 (Herbert, Dean) Farsley Celtic 0.