Think of a title

One particular memory I have of creative writing at primary school is that, when the teacher did not supply a title, I would have an idea of what to write, but was staring at the paper wondering what to put on the first line. I was in a similar situation starting this blog, and was prompted to this anecdote, as one of the first people I saw arriving for Prescot Cables' game at home to Atherton Collieries was my friend Gibbo, who has just started work as a teacher at his old primary school. He had been landed with match secretary duties, and confided that being with us would leave him short of time to prepare a maths lesson, but a new ground was a new ground. It is doing your bit to make sure the children do not grow up thinking football is a television programme. 

We were part of a crowd of 281, a big improvement in the last couple of years, it was not long ago that three figures for a midweek game was far from guaranteed. We were expecting a stiff challenge, with the visitors having made a strong start to their first season in this league.

Sunset at this time of year is just after 8 pm, do I took up position on the pitch side of the barrier at the Safari Park End, taking advantage of the last few minutes of the golden hour.

Jordan Southworth

As I was in my formative years in 1986, light blue and white vertical stripes are not my favourite combination (I remember it in those colours even though Argentina wore their away kit), but have the advantage of being reflective.

Jordan Wynne

After a few minutes, I moved to the side, and was there for Joey Faux to open the scoring. I was late to the goal, but caught the celebrations.

Joey Faux celebrates his goal ...

... and Rod supplies musical accompaniment

Half an hour in to the game, the sun was below the trees, and the floodlights were the dominant source of light. I moved behind the barrier, and to the Gasworks Side, where I found Jonah O'Reilly, currently playing for Congleton Town, and his father.

Shortly after I arrived, the visitors levelled the scores with a penalty. Dominic Marie quickly restored our advantage. I was late to the goal, but captured the celebrations.

Dominic Marie celebrates his goal

Joe Herbert made it three a couple of minutes later. I was late ... well you can see the pattern.

Joe Herbert

For the second half, I opted for the pre set sports mode, with ISO set to 12800, and let the shutter speed take care of itself. You can get away with 1/160s if the players are moving in the right direction.

James McCulloch

I bumped into the father of Atherton and former Cables goalkeeper Adam Reid on my way round the ground, and he reminisced about my photos from Adam's days with us. I was able to oblige on this occasion.

Adam Reid saves from Lloyd Dean

With no score in the second half, we took what for many of us was an unexpected three points to continue our much improved performance after our FA Cup exit.

After the game we presented the Player of the Month award, sponsored this year by Poco Coffee, official suppliers to yours truly when I have to get to the ground early and need more caffeine than is available from the tea bar.

Andy Scarisbrick collects his award

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 (Faux, Marie, Herbert) Atherton Collieries 0

Flags, firkins and flat caps

There was plenty to entertain the visitor at Prescot Cables game against Warrington Town. Admittedly there was no Shaun Reid, and, wst former Cables defender Lee Smith has maintained their form on the field, he exhibits a much calmer match day demeanour.

Lee Smith (left) watches Phil Bannister

Still there was still a flag display and collection for the Alfie Lund Fund, raising awareness for MECP2 duplication syndrome; a dance display at half time, and the little matter of a beer festival.

Alfie Lund Fund flag display

The latter attracted a few ground hopping bloggers, and I met Matt from the Lost Boyos, whose site I only found a few weeks ago, and who, in the manner of our Train Crew, enjoys getting to the game almost as much as being there. He shows the same respect for the flat cap as appropriate headgear for football as these pages, although his is an all year round trademark, rather than just for keeping his head warm or visiting the borders of the known world. I posed for and took the obligatory #NoFlatCapNoParty" double thumbs up pictures. The all thumbs match day photographer may not be the best person to let loose on your compact camera: my first attempt started a movie by mistake.

Whilst this was going on, I just about saw the visitors' first goal, from Ged Kinsella. We had a decent amount of the play up to this point, but had been unable to convert it. Warrington went further ahead with a second from Ciaran Kilheeny in first half injury time.

I then had an unusual assignment for me, some pictures of the half time display from the Dancebeatz Academy. The dancers had a lot of space between them, which worked live, and may have made a good video panning along the line, but I did not have anything with me to keep the camera stable. It would not have made much of a picture if I had put everyone in one frame, so a presentation montage seemed the order of the day.

I also took the opportunity to capture our new mural on the end of the toilet block. We have been around for a while.

With sunset after 6pm, you would not expect much drop in light over an hour earlier with consistent light cloud cover throughout. However, the shutter speed dropped from a fairly consistent 1/1000s at ISO 800 at the beginning of the game ...

Joe Nicholson

... to 1/500s hovering around ISO 1000 at the end.

James McCulloch

I have worked out roughly how the sports mode manages exposure. In the conditions I have encountered (I have yet to use the equipment on summer day), if there is enough light for shutter speeds over 1/1000s, it uses the most open aperture, at ISO 400. In lower light, it maintains speed by increasing sensitivity up to ISO 800, when it reduces shutter speed until 1/500s, then increases the sensitivity again, until ISO 3200, when it drops the speed until it is too slow to be practical, and I need to switch mode.

Jonah O'Reilly

The visitors added their third goal, and continued their march towards the title with a penalty ten minutes from time.

After the game it was back to the festival beers, with a neat system for the transition between the afternoon session (included in the game, and therefore free for season ticket holders) and the evening session. Beers were served up to 6pm in a plastic glass, and then after this only in a glass included in the evening entry fee.

The rest of the pictures from the game can be seen on the club website here, and on Google Photos here. Matt's Lost Boyos blog on the game is available here.

Final score: Prescot Cables 0 Warrington Town 3.

A city with handles

On the way to Prescot Cables' game at Lancaster City, all three pubs we visited offered the choice of a straight or handled glass. Two had a traditional dimpled glass, the third had a German looking contraption with a heavy base. I, not surprisingly, was the only handle user: Richie, our leader in beer and pub choices, chose a straight glass with the observation that we were not in Oxfordshire. Whilst southern beers served with a loose head work particularly well with a tankard, I am surprised they are not more common in the north: with the glass filled to overflowing for a creamy head, it seems handy to have part that stays dry.

By the time we reached the ground, it had started to rain, so fortunately we were playing towards the covered end. It was still unusually mild, so some had taken the chance to have a haircut before it gets too cold.

Jazz McCulloch

I was in the wrong position to capture the pre match handshakes, which is convenient for getting numbers, boots and haircuts all in a few frames to assist with captions. Numbers on the front of shirts, you know they make sense.

Both our Joe Evanses (or Joes Evans) were playing. The Joe and Joseph naming convention had been replaced by Joseph and Joseph J. Both players featured in the pictures I sent to TheNonLeague magazine: I stayed with the previous convention for now.

Joe Evans, aka Joseph J Evans

Joseph Evans, aka ... er ... Joseph Evans

It was quickly apparent this would not be one of our better performances, as we so often find at Lancaster. The hosts took the lead after 10 minutes, and added 2 more in the half hour. Any hope of coming back was probably extinguished when Lloyd Dean was sent off five minutes from the end of the half. I did not see the incident, but we then had the free kick. Waiting in the queue for the tea bar, a home supporter thought the sending off a little harsh, although retaliation (if that is what the card was for) tends to result in dismissal regardless of gravity.

My travelling companions disappeared to the pub at half time and did not return. I feel duty bound to remain in post, and was right to do so, as I like to capture players' first appearances, this time by Andy Scarisbrick. The announcer pronounced his name as written; I thought it was Scares-brick; and my friend Dr James from Crosby, not far from the village from which the name derives, pronounces it Scays-brick: none of us have had the chance to ask him. Oddly, I used the speech feature on Google Keyboard for Android to input this text before editing it manually, and it correctly spelled all three pronunciations. That was a surprise, as it always renders "goals" as "girls" - and I have never even lived in Hull.

Andy Scarisbrick

As those who went to the pub anticipated, the performance did not get better in the second half, with the hosts adding a further two goals. Our impressive home performance has still to replicate itself on the road.

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

Final score: Lancaster City 5 Prescot Cables 0.

200 up

The Blogger dashboard tells me this is my 200th post on these pages, which started as photo hints and tips. There are only so many of those, so now I write more about following football at the level of the National Game. Not that I attempt match reports: I tried taking notes when Prescot Cables were without a Press Officer, but it was just as well someone stepped forward, as my reports would have been somewhat mechanical. So, I comment on the pictures, and "a funny thing happened on the way to the match". That is easier about away games: we only visit once a year, so there is usually something new, whereas at home, it is only a couple of weeks since we were last there. All human life is on the 10A bus, but it is often the same life coming round again.

Sometimes I have ideas of material before the game that does not survive events. The visit of Ossett Town was on the feast of Sts Crispin and Crispinian, so I could use a few lines from Henry V - it refers to the French, but Yorkshire made a good job of the 'Appen-it's-Grand Départ for the Tour de France, so it is the next best thing. That would have required a win to carry it off, and hopes were high after the win at Salford last week.

This was deflated after a few minutes, when Jonah O'Reilly dealt with an incoming ball, but unfortunately sent it in the one direction we did not want it to go. Sadly, this was to determine the result of the game, as on the whole we defended quite well.

Ciaran Gibson keeps his fellow Yorkshiremen at bay

The match report on the Ossett Town website referred to our putting the ball in the net in the first half, which had me confused, until I remembered Jack Phillips rounded the goalkeeper just as the whistle was blown for offside, so, whilst the ball went into the net, it was already out of play by the time it was dispatched there.

Jack Phillips

Neil Prince opted for a more attacking formation for the second half, replacing Andy Griffiths and Jonah O'Reilly with Mason Ryan and himself.

Mason Ryan

During the half, an aeroplane flew over the ground, trailing a banner advertising a designer clothing outlet. They were not advertising it very well, as everyone on the ground misread what it said. Our Chairman, Tony Zeverona, received a call from someone who had seen the aircraft and thought the banner said "Good Luck Prescot Cables". When it appeared over the ground, having seen it through the 300mm lens, I assured Jon the Pharmacologist, reacquainting himself with daylight after completing his PhD thesis a couple of weeks ago, that it said "Something something Prescot Cables". On closer inspection on the computer screen, I realised it said nothing of the sort, However, if we were fooled, I cannot have caused a rush for a late afternoon purchase of designer clothing.

A light aircraft, a banner and a seagull

We thought we had equalised at about 85 minutes, when Liam Dodd found the net, only for the Assistant Referee to flag for a strongly disputed offside.

Liam Dodd

The pharmacologists are nothing if not scientific, and James, who has refereed in the County Premier League, explained in response to this decision that he often judged offside by looking to see who is in an offside position, and listen for the ball being played. The speeds of sound and light came up, which the assembled group did not think would make much of a difference. As I am nothing if not a pedant, I shall look at the point in a future post - there will be sums, and possibly diagrams.

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

Final score: Prescot Cables 0, Ossett Town 1

Lights, camera, er ...

A sports photo blog has a fairly straightforward modus operandi - take pictures of sports events, and write about them.

I arrived at Prescot Cables' game at home to Mossley at the weekend, set myself up in my usual position, got the camera out, turned it on, and nothing happened. I did not recall the battery being low when I last used it, but that is the fun of lithium ion batteries, three bars to no bars in 50 frames. A quick rummage in the bag ensued, only to find the spare missing

So, it was to be a match without pictures. At least we could answer the question posed a couple of weeks ago - the event did exist, and we lost 2-1, against a Mossley side who went top of the table as a result.

I usually refrain from general comment on the day's play, as I do not see everything when looking through a small window. Whilst that serves to cover the fact I am fairly clueless about describing play most of the time, there may be some truth in my assessment. Most (not all) of the best photos are to be found tracking the ball, so concentrating solely on that, it is easy to miss players moving off the ball to provide a destination for passes, or blocking the opposition's options in defence.

I was asked, before our current press officer came forward, whether I would consider writing some of the reports that the club sends in to the Non League Paper. I was a bit dubious, given my admitted shortcomings in the tactical department, but with only 200 words, they only cover the main points of the game. I saw a report of similar length in a local paper recently that, on closer inspection, was created entirely from putting the result and scorers from the League website into sentences.

However, I tried taking notes, and found it did not interfere with taking pictures, although the resultant report would have been somewhat disjointed, along the lines of "X had a shot saved on 10 minutes. Their no 4 was booked after 20." I think it is easier to do both reports and photos if your main concern is the report, and getting pictures to illustrate it: combining putting together a slide show, trying to get everyone in, and writing a report is less likely to be a success.

Despite not having the camera, I still spotted what would have made a good photo - I was particularly frustrated when Glyn Barker scored Prescot's goal just after half time, it was a good example of getting round the goalkeeper, and took place quite slowly, so I should have got a shot.

The good news is that the spare battery has been found and restored to its place in the bag, so normal service should be resumed next week.

Lot's wife comes to tea

I had been wondering what to say about the visit of Witton Albion to Prescot at the weekend, when a quick bit of butterfingers on the keyboard provided a start.

I put in a draft title for the post, thinking of the salt mining heritage of the town of Northwich (Witton is the historic name for the centre of the town, reflected in the name of the parish church, St Helen's Witton), and the Biblical tale of Lot's unfortunate wife, who disobeyed the instruction not to look back when fleeing the Cities of the Plain, and was turned to a pillar of salt as a result. Such tales are not confined to the Bible, many places with natural rocky pillars have a legend of a notorious local person who came to a suitably solid end.

I then started the post, with a capital P. Well, that was the intention, but instead of shift, I pressed Ctrl+p. In most applications, that brings up the print dialogue box, but in Blogger it publishes your post.

Phil Cooney has had to stop playing again due to work commitments,

Phil Cooney in his last game of his current spell, against Salford City

which is bad news for the team, as he has made a significant contribution in the few months he has been able to play, but reduces the scope for accidental posting. Once I had posted the title, I was stuck with it: although it is possible to change it after it has been posted, it is not advisable, as it will start to appear in searches, and lead to an error message when people follow the link.

Stephen Longrigg makes a save

The game was a closer in the play than the 3-1 scoreline suggests, with all the Prescot players putting in a good performance, especially after Liam Hollett was shown a rather harsh straight red towards the end of the first half.

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