It's why we watch

By all accounts, Tadcaster Albion had more than a spot of bother on their journey to Prescot Cables. It is a journey that the east - west split of the League's First Divisions taking effect from next season should eliminate: our visitors had to navigate round both Leeds and Manchester in the early evening. The M6 is not without its issues, but the change should bring improvements for many clubs.

The visitors were sporting a smart two tone blue kit. I was wondering how it would come out under the floodlights - it reproduced quite well.

Josh Klein-Davies

Both sides had chances, and defended well. The visitors seemed to have overcome their earlier difficulties, as they were first to score, from a slightly lucky bounce half an hour in.

We were stronger in the second half, and the pace of the game can be described as furious. The pictures reflect this, with more coming from this half.

Valter Fernandes

However, it looked as though we were not having any luck this evening. There were more chances for both sides, but we were unable to equalise, or the visitors to make the result secure.

This changed a minute from time, when the ball fell to James Edgar who put it away from a tight angle. Celebrations broke out, but captain James McCulloch is never satisfied with an equaliser when there is time to score a winner.

As James Edgar celebrates, James McCulloch gets everyone back for the kick off

There was to be a long period of injury time, with both sides throwing everything at claiming all three points. Five minutes in, Lloyd Dean toook a shot from the edge of the area - Dr Phil later commented on the video that "he had no right to score from there".

Lloyd Dean lines up to shoot for goal

Scenes ensued.

Everyone went to join the Dean family in celebration, including an impressive turn of speed from Ben Barnes. A few weeks ago, my counterpart Ben from Needham Market tweeted a goal celebration with the comment, "If only you could see my face when a player runs towards you ...". I replied that I hoped he was calm, composed and concentrating on getting his picture. Well, I am 30 years older than him!

Reece Fishwick and Harry Cain

In the background, the referee is giving Lloyd Dean an unsurprising yellow card for excessive celebration. Of course, we thought there was nothing excessive about it, a last minute comeback is the sort of thing people watch the game for.

Tadcaster may have thought their evening could not get much worse: unfortunately they were wrong, as they had to go the long way round with the M62 being closed.

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, Dean) Tadcaster Albion 1

A grand day out

There are pitfalls in being too slow updating this blog. A couple of weeks ago, I started a post about our game against City of Liverpool in the FA Cup. We played on a Friday night to attract those watching Liverpool or Everton on Saturday. It worked, with a crowd of 973, who saw an exciting game that we were frustrated not to put to bed with the visitors down to 10 men. So far, so good, and the Tuesday replay attracted a similar crowd. It did not take long for the wheels to fall off, with some tactical decisions that did not work, combined with most of the team having a bad evening, resulting in a 8-2 defeat. In such circumstances I normally still grind out a set of photos, but even I gave up, and regarded the exercise as a not particularly useful technical test.

We followed this with a trip to Tadcaster Albion, a destination seeing scenes last year, with our party being too noisy even for the part of the town in the once wild and lawless Ainsty of York.

This year saw a more subdued turnout, and I had been expecting travel mayhem, with York races, the Leeds Festival, cricket at Headingley, and travellers for London advised to travel via Leeds. I set out early to allow the opportunity of a longer, but less crowded, journey via the Calder Valley if the Transpennine train proved too full. I need not have worried, with the train only filling at Huddersfield, although I was glad not to be staying on between Leeds and York.

I therefore had time to take some pictures around Leeds before catching the Tadcaster bus. This was the only travel issue of the day, with the bus being, unsurprisingly for a coast service on a bank holiday weekend, three quarters of an hour late. Road closures for the Leeds Festival meant a diversion through some picturesque villages, and instead of arriving in Tadcaster with a hour to spare, I had ten minutes, and needed food. I knew the tea bar's chips to be excellent, and I paired them with what might surpass Mossley's as the best gravy in the division.

I had planned to see if I could go pitchside. I am not sure of the etiquette, whether one asks the tunnel steward whilst brandishing a camera and high vis, or whether one has to establish one's bona fides through a club official or our bench. In any event, a camera in one hand and comestibles in the other does not exactly scream "serious photographer", so I decided to stay on the spectator side.

Marcus Burgess

The barrier at the north end is quite low, allowing me to kneel or crouch when play was in our half, although I am not sure it makes much difference when the players are at the other end. We were in black shorts rather than matching the shirts and socks, an illustration of the perils of the referee deciding whether there is a clash from a description on paper.

Harry Cain

After our performance in midweek, I was relieved we did not concede in the first half. We gained a one man advantage near the end, after one of the home players was dismissed for running 10 yards to join in a brawl.

Fifteen minutes in to the second half we were treated to a contender for goal of the season. From a photography perspective, I was disappointed to see it, as it meant the camera did not. A cross found Lloyd Dean, who put it away with a spectacular bicycle kick. It is best appreciated on video (well, that is what I am saying), and the hosts captured it, at 1.48 here. Readers will not be surprised to learn a yellow card was issued for excessive celebration.

Lloyd Dean celebrates his goal

Next to score was Dominic Marie, with another goal best appreciated on video, starting at 2.50 for the run that preceded it, the actual shot looking a bit dull on a still photograph.

Dominic Marie shoots for goal

We were to be found in our own half more than the score suggested, but kept the hosts at bay until injury time, but they were unable to stop a confidence boosting three points on the road.

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

Final score: Tadcaster Albion 1 Prescot Cables 2 (Dean, Marie)

Bridge the gap

Arriving for Prescot Cables' game at Tadcaster Albion, I quickly spotted the town's main claim to fame for the last couple of years. It spans the River Wharfe, one side in the West Riding proper, and the other in the Ainsty of York. The latter's agricultural revenue once supported the city but by the end of its existence as an administrative entity, it was a wild and lawless place. It is a lot quieter these days, as we were to find. The bridge, being the only practical route between the two halves, showed smooth new stone from repairs after it was partially demolished by a flood in 2015.

Give it 20 years of weathering and you will not be able to see the join. Looking up the story of the collapse, I see our hosts allowed their car park to be used for access to the temporary footbridge in place during the repairs.

A number of our train crew made a weekend of it in York, and, as is his wont, Dr Phil brought along some more Doctors (at least I think they all are). Our pharmacological expertise (nothing performance enhancing, most of them work on livers) was augmented by Benny, who has been to a few games, and Cables newcomers Tammy, Victoria and Amy. I was just there for the day, so it was a lot cheaper to travel via Leeds. Having grown up in the countryside, striding across fields with nothing in the way, but near enough to London to experience fast moving crowds, I often think that if places like Leeds had the number of people found in London, they would literally come to a standstill, with people gathered round train doors and no-one able to get on or off, and the streets blocked by people ambling along three abreast at a glacial pace. Dodging these obstacles, I made it to Leeds Bus Station for the Coastliner bus, which was not going as far as the coast, but that is Yorkshire economy for you, in the same way they lack trebles on their dartboards.

A Yorkshire dartboard, spotted by Dr James

I pottered around taking a few pictures before a pre match pint in the Howden Arms opposite the ground. I have had Samuel Smith's Old Brewery Bitter in London and not been keen, but either my tastes have changed or it really does taste better in Tadcaster.

Marcus Burgess

It looked as though every inch of the pitch perimeter was taken with advertising, although on closer inspection many of the boards belonged to the club - not necessarily a bad thing, as, when you see the photos, you know where you are.

Josh Dolling. Ee ba gum.

The weather was good for action photography, with about seven oktas of light cloud. In a week when I pulled the leg of my friend Matt from the Lost Boyos for dodgy geography where the lack of knowledge turned out to be mine, I can still remember the unit of measurement for cloud cover. It was a decent level of light for fast shutter speeds, and the cloud means an absence of distracting shadows.

Josef Faux - 1/1000s f/5.6 ISO500 300mm

We opened the scoring inside the first few minutes with a goal from Chris Almond.

Chris Almond shoots for goal ...

... and watches it go in.

It was an evenly balanced half, with the hosts equalising, Chris Almond scoring again, and the hosts once again drawing level.

Visiting the tea bar at half time, I got the end of a batch of chips - all the better, as there were plenty of the crispy bits near the bottom of the pan. The weather was more changeable in the second half, with some sun and a couple of light showers.

Andy Scarisbrick

A further goal eluded both sides, not for want of trying. With Goole losing, we restored another point of the cushion between us and them.

After the game, most of our party stayed for a couple of drinks, in the Angel and White Horse, where Samuel Smith keep their white dray horses, and the Coach and Horses next to the bus station. We were probably a bit noisy for the town, where most pubs seemed geared towards dining, and they may well have been relieved when we took ourselves back to the city.

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

Final score: Tadcaster Albion 2 Prescot Cables 2 (Almond 2)

First and repeat visits

I was joined at Prescot Cables' game at home to Tadcaster Albion by my friend Roger, who recruited me to the Cables interest in the Augustus John pub on the University of Liverpool Precinct one winter evening in 1991. The name of the Precinct went the way of the life membership of Convocation (bag for life as it turned out) promised as part of our Graduation Fee. The Augustus John, however, survived the University's stratagems, and continues to serve real ales and ciders, under the guidance of, amongst others, our latest Cables PhD, Dr Tony, who combines bar work with teaching in the Politics Department.

There had been plenty of rain in the previous 36 hours, but the 60 tons of sand procured with the Supporters on the Pitch money over the summer seemed to work, as a 10am pitch inspection confirmed the game was on. As well as Tadcaster's first visit, there was a mini beer festival, with Melwood Beer Company, who supply our hand pump in the bar, offering six brews and a selection of ciders and gins. We had wisely not staked sales on the game, as there was a Friday evening session, and a live band for Saturday evening.

After a successful evening at Ashton, Brian Richardson had to consider whether to go with that team, or use players from last week's draw against Clitheroe. He mainly stuck with the team from last weekend, with Jordan Wynne having successfully made a claim for a league start, and Dominic Marie wearing the number 9 shirt sponsored by the 10:22 crew (even if none of us have actually caught the 10:22 since the start of the season).

Jordan Wynne

Dr James spotted the absence of any manufacturer's branding on the visitors' kit, for the last time at it turned out, as Tadcaster announced Admiral as their new kit sponsor a few days later. I did not know manufacturers sponsor kit at this level, I thought clubs went for the best deal (or, like us, take payment in kind for hosting an advertising shoot), and branding came as standard. Unsurprisingly, I spotted the numbers on the front of the shirts - you know they make sense.

James Edgar, and the visitors' kit front and back

We had some attacking opportunities, with Tadcaster's report mentioning a run the full length of the pitch from Ben Cartwright.

Ben Cartwright

Having warmed up at half time, I emerged from the bar in time to see the only goal. Dominic Marie followed the ball from the kick off, and was therefore perfectly placed to take advantage of a fortunate bounce.

Dominic Marie

Tadcaster had the better of the play for the second half, but a solid defence ensured they were unable to capitalise. It was no surprise that the Rogues & Rascals Barbershop Man of the Match award went to Bram Johnstone.

Bram Johnstone

After processing the photos I had the dubious pleasure of using the new Pitchero uploader to put them on the club website. There is a new feature to upload from Google Drive, which might be useful as I also upload to Google Photos. It is speedy, but copies and displays in what appears to be a random order - definitely not file name, date or time, or even size. I suspect most people want to look at pictures in order of play, and the only remedy is to compare against a contact print and drag everything manually into order. So, I was back to uploading from the computer, which lets you do a random number (between 7 and 63) at a time, and reverses the order. For readers who also upload to Pitchero, the remedy was simple once I had found it by trial and error: select your last photo, and use Shift + Click to select the rest, rather than starting with the first.

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

Final score: Prescot Cables 1 (Marie) Tadcaster Albion 0