Away at home

Regular readers may notice that these pages do not stray much into professional football, so I was a little confused as to why Harry Kane received quite so many plaudits for the number of goals in a calendar year, when a season is what matters. We can still mark the achievement, albeit with dodgy punctuation.

Since November, Skelmersdale United have been sharing Prescot Cables' ground, having been ejected from Stormy Corner by the landlord. Our game away to them would therefore be in familiar surroundings, and convenient for transport as Skelmersdale does not enjoy bus services on New Year's Day. Not that I could say Prescot enjoyed them either, as I had a considerable wait for a connection.

Arriving at the ground, I went towards the gate for season tickets before swiftly remembering to join the queue to pay. As I was kitting out, programme editor Gareth Coates expressed surprise that I was wearing a good pair of boots to go on to the pitch. I explained that keeping them well polished means the rain runs off, which is why the Army are so keen on it. This would be amply tested during the afternoon. Once I was ready, I was about to breeze through the tunnel, then realised that I was not technically at my own ground and should wait until the teams had entered the field and the gate was opened again. We occupied the unfamiliar away dugout, and Dave Powell and his team were providing a blast from the past at home.

Our game at the weekend had been postponed due to a waterlogged pitch, and, whilst it had dried, rain was forecast. It duly arrived, and whilst I was getting my cover in place, Chris Almond opened the scoring against his former club. I was in time to catch the celebration.

Chris Almond celebrates his first goal

The regulars from the Fence End had taken shelter in the stand, and were snapping those of us out in the rain.

I caught the second of Chris Almond's goals.

We were seeing all the effects of the rain.

Jordan Wynne

It eased off for a while towards the end of the half.

Josh Klein-Davies

Two more goals from Chris Almond had me wandering round at half time puffing on an imaginary pipe murmuring that the last time anyone scored five in a game was probably Jack Roscoe in 1935 (he scored six in a 10-0 win against Harrowby in the FA Cup). Sadly, Chris was not to have the opportunity to equal this feat, as he took a knock to the Achilles tendon he ruptured at the beginning of the season, which put him out of action for three months, and so withdrew as a precaution.

Lloyd Dean assumed scoring duties ten minutes in to the second half.

Lloyd Dean

Given the light, I had taken my usual approach of positioning myself under a floodlight on the Gasworks Side. This was not one of my better decisions, as the wind was blowing from the west, so I was getting water on the front of the lens more quickly than I could wipe it off, giving a soft focus effect. I got a couple of exposures to illustrate the conditions.

Reece Fishwick

After getting this one, I retreated to shelter on the terraces on the stand side. From here, I was able to see Dan Burns score his first goal for the club.

Dan Burns celebrates his goal

After the game, I normally remove my high vis and waterproof trousers, but I thought it best to keep them on, as putting them in my bag risked drowning the camera. I was, however, delighted when I got home to find my highly polished boots had done the trick, and my feet were completely dry.

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

Final score: Skelmersdale United 1 Prescot Cables 6 (Almond 4, Dean, Burns)

Eyes open

August Bank Holiday Monday this year saw Prescot Cables at home to Skelmersdale United, who may be joining us on a more regular basis later in the year if they are unable to remain in their ground on the site of the former hamlet of Stormy Corner.

Before the game, there was the annual task with the most opportunities for things to go wrong - the team photos. For the individual pictures, commercial manager Steve Garnett suggested a backdrop of some of the supporters' banners. I was sceptical, but it worked out well, if a little orange, with a tequila motif (nothing to do with me, I cannot understand how anyone drinks the stuff).

Joey Faux

The light stayed fairly even with light cloud, for the players, but the sun came out for the management. Next up was the team photo itself, an exercise that needs a firm hand, as the team are certainly not going to listen to me.

Fortunately, the sun went back in, as the position, with the stand and banner in the background, meant everyone's faces would be in shadow if it had stayed out. With everyone in place, I was not loud enough with the "say testicles" (from The Commitments), so there was no take when everyone had their eyes open, which caused much mirth on Twitter.

Once it was done we could all relax, and someone could put the banner on the front of the stand back in position. Anyone tempted to caption a team photograph should put the names in a separate text file, as, when you make the inevitable errors, it is easier to amend the file and paste the contents into a new text box than to edit on the photo.

We only had one mascot for the game, which was just as well, as the assistant referee was looking to start the handshakes while most of the team were still walking in front of me.

We started playing towards the Hope Street end and I took up a position on the ground in front of the covered standing.

Baba Conteh

The first half ended goalless, but we swiftly opened the scoring in the second half with a penalty converted by Tunde Owolabi.

Tunde Owolabi scores from the spot

The visitors then opened their account from a penalty. Jordan Wynne restored our advantage a few minutes later.

Jordan Wynne shoots for goal

The penalty count started to look like rugby union when Tunde Owolabi was brought down in the box for our next opportunity. Unfortunately, Skelmersdale's Jack Sims correctly guessed where Tunde would put his second penalty, and was able to save.

Jack Sims

We looked as though we would hold on to our lead until the last seconds of injury time when the visitors snatched an equaliser.

The rest of the pictures from the game can be seen on the club website here, and on Google Photos here. A copy of the team photo is available here.

Final score: Prescot Cables 2 (Owolabi pen, Wynne) Skelmersdale United 2.

Following St Swithun

A couple of Wednesdays ago was St Swithun's Day. In East Grinstead, the main parish church was dedicated to the saint, so we took an interest in the legend that we will enjoy, or otherwise, the weather on his feast for the next forty days. Naturally, about three days later, the weather changed and we forgot about it for another year. The weather here has been fairly dry, so, at Prescot Cables' first home pre season game against St Helens Town, the pitch was looking in need of a couple of days' steady rain.

St Swithun's Day also marked the eightieth birthday of stalwart Cables supporter Harry Thomas.

Harry prepares his team talk

Congratulations are also due to my friend Luke, who was awarded his PhD over the summer. I was pleased to see Dr Luke and Dr James immaculately attired for their graduation: suits (not shirt sleeves) under the robes, polished shoes, and ties covering the top button, just like everyone turned out when I graduated (just a Bachelor's) in ... er ... the year before Luke was born. I expected nothing less: as a referee, Dr James is aware there is a point on the assessment for turning up with the correct equipment.

I do not usually cover two games in one post, but this is pre season, and both were at home, so ...

We have been in competition with St Helens Town since they were re-founded after the Second World War, and they played at their ground in the shadow of Bold Power Station, and we played there for a season whilst Prescot Panthers took over our ground. Sadly, it was then their turn to fall into the clutches of the professionals, and they now ground share at Ashton Athletic.

We all know the referee tosses a coin, and the winner usually chooses an end, but who gets to call? On this occasion the duty goes to the captain with the bushier beard.

There had been a good turnout of returning players in midweek, and most were also available for this fixture.

Danny Flood

The game at Runcorn had felt like something of a training exercise, but this time honour was at stake, so the balance of pictures between "profile picture" shots and action in competition for the ball was back to normal.

Paul Cliff holds off the opposition

The game was a good workout for the team, with league position proving decisive in the final result.

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

Final score: Prescot Cables 3 St Helens Town 1.

For the game last Tuesday hosting Skelmersdale United, the weather forecast had been changeable. The evening turned out dry, but the darkest of the cloud settled over the ground - oddly with lighter conditions visible in most directions - which did not help with shutter speeds.

James Edgar

The sun broke through in patches towards the end of the first half.

Neil Prince

I wondered why the Skelmersdale substitutes were wearing red. The reason became apparent at half time, as the visitors fielded a separate team in each half. They have the strength in depth to do so - players who have gone to Skelmersdale in the past have sometimes found it is not a pathway to a guaranteed first team place..

The visitors' first half team had finished one goal up after a missed communication led to an own goal - something you prefer to happen now than in the first game of the season. Our best opportunity of the second half came as I was walking round to my usual position, with Liam Hollett putting Jonah O'Reilly's free kick just wide.

Liam Hollett

At this time of year, sunset is at about the end of the game, which with the right conditions can mean we can use natural light almost to the end. With the cloud cover, this was not one of those occasions, with the floodlights switched on at half time.

Ben Greenop

This was an encouraging performance against a team a division above, with our holding out for most of the half, until conceding from a free kick a minute or two from the end.

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

Final score: Prescot Cables 0 Skelmersdale United 2

Ee ba goals

Prescot Cables did not have the best of weeks prior to the visit of Wakefield at the weekend. The disrupted journey and defeat at Kendal Town were followed in midweek by a 6-0 defeat to a clinical Skelmersdale United in the Doodson Sport Cup. The League Cup is of more value for Skelmersdale than for us: it gives game time for squad players, and a good run, with the Final near the end of the season, can boost confidence if they reach the playoffs or are making a push for the title, as Dulwich Hamlet found in their two League Cup Final appearances in the last three seasons. Not that the people in the announcers' box will be keen to see Skelmersdale's away kit, whose numbers did not provide much contrast with the kit colour in low light.

John Beattie and Rob Doran get the ball away from Skelmersdale's Matty Hughes in low-vis

The question was how our team would respond. Wakefield are competing with us to avoid relegation, and these are the sides we need to beat, with points gained against higher flying sides being a bonus. Would they take their example from Skelmersdale in clinical finishing and punishing errors, or would they have been disheartened by the scale of the defeat?

Whatever the answer, it was clear that the record would be a grainy one, as the light was the worst of the season, to be expected in November, with low, thick cloud: the lighting conditions were similar to those at Kendal the previous week, where the game took place half an hour later under lighter cloud.

The question of whether the team would bounce back received its first answer on 16 minutes, via Phil Bannister.

Phil Bannister shoots for goal

That was the only goal for the first half, but the second half showed it was just a start. The lighting was such it may as well have been an evening game.

Ged Murphy had a go, briefing Antony Shinks on what he had in mind ...

... Antony takes the free kick ...

... and delivers the ball with pinpoint accuracy, with Ged heading just wide.

Shortly after, the ball came to Rob Doran in the goalmouth.

This picture made it into the slide show on the "a goal is a goal" principle: to be a good photo, I would need an unobstructed view.

A few minutes later, Wakefield goalkeeper Shaun Penn successfully dispossessed Sean Breen ...

... but found himself at the mercy of Connor McCarthy, who has a knack for taking advantage of a goalkeeper in difficulties.

Both Rob and Connor were substituted quite quickly after their goals, which can at first sight seem strange, but of course it is more likely to be a result of the manager's plan - have the player go flat out for a goal, knowing he will only be playing 20 minutes of the half.

The fourth goal came from the returning Joe Evans, making his first appearance of the season - a goal I unfortunately did not capture.

Joe Evans

This performance not only pulled us ahead of Wakefield, keeping the right side of a point per game average, but goals from four different players and a clean sheet will hopefully also build confidence after 4 defeats in a row.

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

Final score: Prescot Cables 4 (Bannister, Doran, McCarthy, Evans) Wakefield 0

A sunny day at Stormy Corner

There are all sorts of things to do on a bank holiday, so it was natural that I should find the most attractive to be a visit to Stormy Corner, the home of Skelmersdale United. As the morning was cold and cloudy, venturing out placed me in a minority: the buses had none of the overcrowding that normally results from shoehorning Saturday demand into a Sunday service. Given that I did not go there for many years as I thought it was difficult to get to, I now find it is one of the easier grounds to access - only a few minutes walk from the bus stop. This information will need to go in storage: this will probably be the last League game we play at Skelmersdale for a while, as they look secure in their challenge for automatic promotion, unless the wheels come off in the last month of the season.

I arrived a few minutes early (I shall pause for a few readers who have known me for some time to recover their composure), and had time to watch the team warming up. I was able to warm up myself, as the sun had come out, and it was quite pleasant if you stayed out of the wind. The operative word there is "if", as we shall see later.

With our circumstances making it difficult to pay to keep a settled squad, many games this season have featured someone making a debut, and this was no exception, with Scott Thomas stepping up from the youth team to cover for injuries, and Josh Odukomaya making a first start after a number of games on the bench.

Scott Thomas

Josh Odukomaya

Skelmersdale's ground is a mixed bag for the photographer. The cover is limited, and there is no terracing behind the goals, albeit with space for it as and when funds permit in the future (the latter is not an issue, for still photography, the lower the camera position the better). The pitch perimeter fence is quite low (the 1.1m in the ground grading document is an ideal, not a requirement) so there is nowhere to rest my arms - an example of FA ground grading catering for the comfort of the amateur photographer. However, the east - west orientation of the pitch means that there are less light problems, particularly of players being backlit in sunny conditions, than at other grounds. The fence is an even regulation distance from the pitch, so you get some good close up shots when the players are chasing the ball to the goal line.

Carl Furlong

For the first half, the grass banking did a good job of keeping the wind off. However, in Stormy Corner, some corners are stormier than others, and the wind was whipping round the position I took in front of the board room and announcer's booth for the second half. I was rewarded with a good shot of our goal, from Liam Hollett, who is more often stopping the opposition scoring, which perhaps illustrates the bias that creeps in when choosing photographs.

Liam Hollett heads home for Prescot's goal

Score a goal, and it is on the record, so it will be the natural picture to illustrate the game. Block the opposition from scoring a dozen times, and unless one is a clearance off the line, there is no moment you can identify for the decisive contribution. Getting the ball away from an advancing forward can still make for a good image.

Dave Dempsey dispossesses Skelmersdale's Matty Hughes

Skelmersdale may have been expecting an easy win from this game, as their supporters were becoming rather unhappy, thinking, not without justification, that we were taking our time at set pieces. It was only in the last 10 minutes that their strength in depth started to tell, giving them the win. Strangely enough, when they went ahead, their supporters did not seem to find the restart of play to require quite so much urgency.

As the sun was well and truly out by the end of the game, I eschewed the bus back to Ormskirk, and walked through the back lanes instead - the advantage of Stormy Corner is that it is on the edge of the town, so a couple of hundred yards and you are away.

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

Placing the ball

Having gained a point from local rivals Warrington Town at the weekend, Prescot Cables entertained Skelmersdale United in midweek, in a game postponed from New Year's Day. Like Warrington's Shaun Reid, Tommy Lawson left us to take charge at Skelmersdale, but the similarity ends there, as Tommy took us to the North West Counties League Cup and League Championship first.

Adam Reid

This was our fourth game against Skelmersdale this season, and none have been profitable on the field. As one was in the Liverpool Senior Cup on a wet night and left the pitch unusable for a month, I suspect it was far from profitable off it too. This was the first evening game I have attended since then. The the only other opportunity I had to do so was away at Bamber Bridge, which I chose to miss, as I would have had to leave.before the end to get the last train home, which, along with leaving home before the result of a pitch inspection, is my main reason for missing away games.

As I discuss frequently in these pages, taking pictures with consumer kit under floodlights involves compromises. Having said that, newer SLR cameras, such as the Nikon D5100 and D5200, offer an ISO range up to 6400, expandable to 25600, two steps up from my D5000's 3200 expandable to 6400, so when the time comes to upgrade, the low light performance should be even better. The compromise extends to whether to include a picture in the collection, such as this one.

We can clearly see this is Liam Hollett, which is probably an essential prerequisite. However, it is a little blurred, and I would probably not have included it if Liam had been playing a ball at his feet, but getting a foot to a ball at waist height gives it the interest to get into the slideshow.

Watching both football and rugby, I have noticed an odd difference, in the way players place the ball for a free kick or penalty. Here is Anthony Shinks on Tuesday.

Here, by contrast, is Alex Davies, playing for Waterloo at the time I took the picture in 2008, but now playing in the Premiership for London Welsh. It is one of my earlier efforts, and still one of my favourite photos. We can also use it to remind us of a warmer day.

Anthony is bending his back, like almost all footballers. Alex is bending his knees like the ergonomics people tell you - with some justification, I was once hobbling around for a few days after putting out the bit where your back becomes your backside picking up a telephone box. Not one of those red Giles Gilbert Scott affairs, but a cardboard box with a desk telephone in, weighing about the same as a football. I do not recall seeing a rugby player doing it any other way. Placing a rugby ball is a more precise operation, as the angle matters, either on the tee, or a few years ago in a dent made in the ground with the boot.

As is usual with these fixtures, we were watching former players playing for the opposition, in this case Rob McIntosh and Dale Wright. I have always enjoyed watching Rob play, and he and Dale have always conducted themselves impeccably visiting their former club. However, when he was a bit younger and playing for us, I had trouble not depicting Rob as all arms and legs. It is a bit easier these days, but the ball does not always co-operate.

Rob McIntosh meets René Magritte

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

Senior moments

The main attraction of the Liverpool Senior Cup to a club like Prescot Cables was drawing Liverpool or Everton at home, which would attract a crowd often over 1000, and much needed revenue. With less than 20 clubs in the competition, this was a realistic prospect.

The likelihood was halved last year, when Liverpool pulled out of the competition that provided their first silverware in 1893 in favour of a European youth tournament. Not that it stopped some morale boosting heroics, with the lads beating Skelmersdale United, losing to Southport on penalties, being reinstated as Southport fielded an ineligible player, and taking the game against Tranmere Rovers to penalties at Prenton Park.

Sadly there was to be no repeat this year when we entertained Skelmersdale United. I was surprised the game was taking place at all, as rain during the afternoon, falling on an already wet pitch, had made the conditions difficult. Indeed, a League game may have been postponed, but as a County Cup game, all parties would have been keen to get the game out of the way.

Steve Kelly

The game saw a welcome start in defence for Steve Kelly, after a long layoff due to injury.

A home game against Skelmersdale United is something with which this column is very familiar, so there were no unusual challenges. The conditions were never going to make for a classic game, or for that matter classic photos, although I was able to get a reasonable slideshow.

Given that some of the wetter areas of the pitch were, as was only to be expected, in the goal areas, both goalkeepers, or at least their shirts, seemed to remain remarkably free of mud.

Andy Moor

Davidson Banda makes a run towards goal

That we are able to play at all on a pich that has always had difficult underlying ground is a tribute to the hard work put in by Doug Lace, our Club Secretary and Groundsman, and those who assist him. Doug was recently voted Knowsley Council's Sports Volunteer of the Year, a thoroughly well deserved award.

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

Concentrating on the League this year, Brian

Last season, it sometimes felt like a case of "It's Tuesday, it must be Warrington Town", as we met them in the FA Cup and Doodson Sport Cup, as well as the usual meetings in the League. This season, their place has been taken by Skelmersdale United, who we faced in the first of our fixtures, in the FA Trophy at the weekend. Still to come are the New Year and Easter fixtures in the League, the Doodson Sport Cup, and a possible fixture in the Liverpool Senior Cup if they beat Burscough in the previous round.

With heavy rain having caused extensive flooding and disruption throughout the north of England earlier in the week, it was a relief to have a couple of brighter drier days at the end of the week. Normally on a sunny day, I set the camera to sports mode, and let the apertures and shutter speeds sort themselves out. Sometimes I have a senior moment, and I spent the first 5 minutes of this game shooting in shutter priority mode, with the speed from the last time I used it, 1/200s. This gave the effects - especially movement blur in the player's feet - we do not normally look for in light like this.

Luke Edwards

Having spotted my error, I settled in to more conventional shooting. I usually shoot from the same side of the ground for both halves - when I am trying to get everyone in the album, it means I am closest to the players on the right in the first half ...

Alejandro Barba San Felipe

... and those on the left in the second.

Joe Fielding

It falls apart when the second half substitutes are introduced on the side I have been concentrating on in the first half, but we cannot expect tactics to be determined by photographic requirements.

When there is an incident in the game, there is an element of luck in whether I capture it. Practice means I am pointing the camera in the right direction, with the auto focus point over one of the players involved, but we have seen how the auto focus can wander a bit, and it is luck to press the shutter at the right moment. So, I was quite pleased to capture Skelmersdale's Tony Rendell (a former Prescot player) bringing down Mario Bonetta for a penalty.

I was a little surprised Tony Rendell was sent off for denying a goal scoring opportunity, we can see the edge of the penalty area in the picture, and I think the goalkeeper was on his line and in a good position to make a save. Not that it did us any good, we were unable to overcome 10 men in the second half.

I am not sure where to stand for the resulting penalty. Staying in position behind the goal gives a good view of the penalty taker, as here with Jonathon Bathurst.

Despite a good firm shot, Skelmersdale's Sam Ashton went the right way, which gave me the feeling (correct as it turned out) that this was not going to be our afternoon. The disadvantage of this position is that I do not get a picture of the goalkeeper as the post is usually in the way. A view from the side would enable me to capture both, but would require gathering my equipment and making a brisk trot to the side (I am built for comfort rather than speed), and risks another player moving between the camera and the ball at the crucial moment and ending up with no shot at all.

In the programme, the write up from Skelmersdale referred to their having won something called the "Amateur FA Cup". They turned Amateur in the 1960s when they saw an opportunity to perform well in the FA Amateur Cup, with some justification, as they were runners up in 1967 and won the competition in 1971. Wearing my hat as a supporter of Dulwich Hamlet, with a rather longer amateur tradition, holding the status from their foundation until it was abolished in 1974, I can be a pedant, and point out that the Amateur FA Cup is something completely different.

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