It's Thursday, it must be the Cup - part 2

Prescot Cables' Liverpool Senior Cup Final against Marine was a difficult game to predict. Marine were a division above, but we were in a play off position. We had our eyes on the league, but Marine had to play at Altrincham the previous evening amid continuing bad weather and the FA's determination at all costs to complete the season by the end of the week. That fixture was a case in point, Altrincham were assured of the title and Marine mathematically safe, so it could have been mopped up the following week. Any thought Marine had of resting players probably had to go out of the window in favour of taking whoever could extricate themselves from work and family at less than 12 hours' notice.

Many county and league cup finals are played at a Football League ground, and for the players it may be the only chance they have to play there. The Liverpool FA's practice of drawing it at the home of one of the participants probably makes a virtue out of a necessity. Anfield and Goodison are unlikely to be available, and a crowd of 750 would rattle in Prenton Park or the Halton Stadium. In the Marine Travel Arena, however, it made for a lively atmosphere with two sets of enthusiastic supporters.

Having the match ball on a stand seems de rigeur these days. Another photographer, with commendable attention to detail, made sure the Nike swoosh was the right way up.

The referee giving the ball his total, undivided attention ...

... phew, no accidental comedy moment.

Pictures look better with a crowd in the background, and the compact nature of the ground means that with a decent number in they are fairly close together.

Valter Fernandes

Well, apart from one side.

Harry Cain

Those familiar with the ground may find it hard to believe, but there are pictures from the 1940s with spectators on the fourth side, so I dread to think what width the pitch must have been.

The first half an hour was a cagey affair, with neither side looking to take risks early on. We opened the scoring with a penalty, dispatched by Chris Almond.

Chris Almond scores from the spot

Many of our supporters stood on the open terrace at the Crosender Road end, in the unaccustomed position of being behind our goal.

Ben Barnes

James McCulloch was unavailable due a school trip to Llandudno, where I hope he was making the pupils pay for it attending to the students' fitness by having them run up and down an Orme. Lloyd Dean was captain in his place. He added a second just before half time ...

... and a third just after. The corner arrangement of floodlights meant I took up position behind the goal, with satisfactory results.

The definitive use of a shiny advertising board for reflecting a goal celebration

With seven of the hosts' team having played the previous day, they were tiring, and it was clear we would maintain our advantage. About ten minutes from time, I started to make my way to the College Road end, as I assumed that was where the cup would spend its brief time out of its case.

As I was behind the goal, I heard the steward briefing our supporters on the logistics - giving the players five minutes' rest after the final whistle, and then bringing the supporters on to the pitch to watch the presentation in the stand. I missed Josh Klein-Davies completing the scoring.

Josh Klein-Davies

Heading towards the cup ...

... I realised I was heading away from the imminent celebrations, so retraced my steps.

Scenes

The second rule of getting a good image is to reconnoitre the territory*, but I had little opportunity to do so, as I had not appreciated the value of Marine's stand for trophy presentations - not quite 39 steps, but enough to be going on with. The crowd had an excellent view, the photographer less so, with strip lighting immediately behind the players.

It was easier to get an image pitchside.

Unlike last year, when the County FA seemed keen to rescue their silverware from all those people with their collapsing fences, the trophy was allowed in the dressing room.

After a rather anxious looking chap popped his head round the door fifteen minutes later to ask if we had finished with their cup, the management took their turn in the more restrained atmosphere of the board room.

After this, the pictures needed to be processed - first up were a couple of the presentation, then the game. I had to disappoint the players, when pictures from the dressing room went in the queue behind those from the next game, although they had plenty of their own selfies to keep them going.

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

Final score: Marine 0 Prescot Cables 4 (Almond pen, Dean 2, Klein-Davies)

* The first rule is to remove the lens cap.

Battle of industry

Prescot Cables derives its name from our town's departed industrial heritage, so I enjoy visiting clubs with a similar background. Atherton Collieries can claim more historical points: our name came from sponsorship in the 1920s, theirs is from the club's being founded by miners in the First World War.

For evening games, small variations in transport timetables make a big difference. Last season I was thinking of attending a game as a neutral: the risk of missing the 9.46 train to Wigan meant I decided not to go. This time, the train was at 10pm, and Mr Google's maps showed me that what I thought was the quickest route to the station was nothing of the sort, so I shaved three or four minutes off the walk.

We were due to play this game on the Saturday after Easter, but it fell to a lunchtime downpour when we were on the way. I spent that afternoon in Wigan Central, a railway themed real ale and cider bar in the arches beneath North Western station, and, confusingly to those with an eye to railway history, nowhere near the old Wigan Central station. It was as well the game was off: although I was compos mentis enough to identify alternative entertainment at Wigan St Patrick's rugby league, when the time came I was disinclined to move to actually attend.

The ground has a distinct slope, which features in my memory of our North West Counties winning season of 2002-3. In the last game of the season, in which we needed a point, the hosts had a penalty in the first half, and sent it at an angle that would have gone in on level ground, but went over: we had a penalty in the second half and did not make the same mistake.

We were playing downhill in the first half.

Reece McNally

I often mention wearing high vis working pitchside. This is at least encouraged, if not mandated by the league, so players and officials can see clearly you are not part of the game. I was glad of it after a few minutes, when Atherton goalkeeper Greg Hartley was sliding towards me, downhill, on slippery ground, feet first. I do not know if he would have seen me without high vis, but he did with it, and was able to aim his feet at the pitch perimeter.

Greg Hartley

The hosts opened the scoring after 15 minutes, with a penalty converted by Ben Hardcastle, who has been a dominant feature of Collieries' recent successful seasons.

My position was giving good lighting throughout the half.

Josh Klein-Davies

For the second half, I took up position behind the uphill goal, which may not have been ideal, but as the bulk of the crowd was along the side, it meant I could get a position with no-one (more to the point, no-one with spillable drinks) immediately behind me. The sky was coming out as a nice shade of deep blue.

James Edgar and Harry Cain line up a free kick

About 15 minutes in, a tackle saw an Atherton player on the ground, an appeal for a free kick, more in hope than expectation, ignored by the referee, and everyone played on. This hardly merits a mention, except a spectator helped things along with a shout of "Get up you faggot". You do not hear this at our level as often as the full time game: people are more civilised when they know they will see the players in the bar later. I could only place it within 20 yards, and I was probably in the best place in the ground to hear it. There was a mix of supporters in the vicinity, but as the hosts would have had the advantage of a free kick, it was hardly going to be one of them. In the absence of anyone identifiable to report, I shall make my observation here. If you call an opposition player or match official a queer, faggot or similar term, it is because (a) you know they are like me, (b) you think they are like me, or (c) you think they believe it to be somehow undesirable to be like me. It is shouting abuse at me as much as at them: the second I hear it, I am on their side, not yours.

Once again, we came closer to scoring as the game went on. Our team are noticeably fit for the full 90 minutes, which, when we face a team flagging in the last ten, gets goals and points. Unfortunately the hosts appear to work on the same principle. A good save from Ben Barnes a couple of minutes from time stopped Atherton extending their lead, and Harry Cain hit the post with a minute or two to go, but we could not stop the hosts adding to their excellent record in the second half of the season.

Ben Barnes

I had hoped to give Gibbo from the Collieries committee a quick call on my way out: I saw him at a distance whilst I was on the pitch, but he had moved by the time I had packed up and was ready to go, and I had not appreciated how much time the quickest route to the station saves, so I thought I would not have time to go and find him.

On the way home, I had a wait at Wigan North Western that was too long to be convenient, but not quite long enough for a pint downstairs. Then again, you can find quite a bit to divert you on Realtime Trains and the live signalling maps on Open Train Times: I know a lot more about Anglo-Scottish freight flows than I did before.

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

Final score: Atherton Collieries 1 Prescot Cables 0.

Greyscale

When I was about ten I attended a children's exhibition at Alexandra Palace in London. At one stall you could make your own abstract painting, squeezing some paint on to paper that was spun on a turntable and came out with abstract patterns. I have never had strong fingers, and was concerned I had not applied much paint, but it came out well, with distinct blocks of colour, whereas other children, who had used much more paint, ended up with it all merging into a monochrome blob.

I wondered whether the designer of Kendal Town's kit for their visit to Prescot Cables used a similar process, putting the black and white of their home kit on the turntable and ending up with mid grey. They had a thought for those wearing replica shirts walking or cycling on rural roads by including fluorescent numbers and advertising, ensuring they were visible at night.

Sam Staunton-Turner

I had missed a couple of games, Easter commitments meaning I was unable to travel to South Shields, and the weather enforced change of date at Colwyn Bay clashing with other arrangements. I wondered whether we might need to squeeze this fixture into a rapidly closing window, as it had rained heavily in the morning. A declared crowd of 146 suggested many people came to the same conclusion and stayed indoors to watch Liverpool in European action, and the number who looked to be present suggested that included a few season ticket holders. However, whilst the area around the tunnel was predictably soft, the Gasworks Side was surprisingly firm. The linesmen were on the opposite sides to the usual arrangement: I thought his might be because of the weather, but I think the referee, Mr Buxton, may just prefer that arrangement.

We had matching goalkeepers, which strictly speaking you are not supposed to, but I have never seen both get close enough, even when one goes up for a last minute corner, to make it an issue.

Ben Barnes

Matthew Johnson

Given that, whilst were still in some sort of daylight, the colour of the sky matched the visitors' kit without the bright bits, I knew the light would play havoc with my exposures. There is not much you cannot fix, but it means processing all the images, including the raw conversion, manually.

Reece McNally

This was my first opportunity to see recent signing Morgan Homson-Smith in action.

Morgan Homson-Smith

I occasionally practice rolling into a ball if it looks as though I am about to be between a player and the pitch perimeter, mainly to protect the camera, but also to make sure the player does not collide at full speed with a protruding piece of hard plastic. I thought for a moment I might need to put it into action.

Harry Cain

MJ Monaghan added to the tally of goals he has scored since joining us a few weeks ago.

MJ Monaghan avoids the defender ...

... and the goalkeeper ...

... and celebrates his goal.

The light in the second half was easier to work with, being standard floodlights, and the underlying grey of Kendal's kit was more reflective than I was expecting.

James Edgar

Chris Almond made the result sure with a couple of minutes to go.

Chris Almond

Club Secretary Dan Roberts was celebrating his birthday, so was called upon to present the Man of the Match award to Joe Herbert.

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 (Monaghan, Almond) Kendal Town 0

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

The Beast from the East

In the week prior to Prescot Cables' game at home to Goole, we had been frustratingly inactive due to a weather system called the Beast from the East, with temperatures well below freezing postponing games against Everton and Bamber Bridge. We had been active off the field, with a successful, if cold, AGM, with Doug Lace addressing us for the first time as Chair, generally encouraging ground and financial reports, and a good question and answer session with Brian Richardson.

Elsewhere, the situation was more critical. Dulwich Hamlet received notice their ground tenancy had been withdrawn for breaches of onerous conditions the club accepted under duress a few months previously. There are also accumulated bills from when the landlords, Meadow Residential, were running the club as the agent of the majority shareholder, including back rent they had carelessly omitted to pay to themselves. In a further effort to intimidate the club, the landlords registered trademarks relating to the club name, a move that brought down widespread derision on their heads. Building crowds and community work has paid dividends, as the club now has the support of the local council, Members of Parliament, the Mayor of London, community and football organisations. Amongst the political support, Lord Kennedy of Southwark has been patrolling Westminster armed with a pink and blue scarf, the resulting tweets spreading news far and wide.

Many clubs find themselves in difficulties, but Dulwich's situation could affect any club that does not own the freehold of their ground. A viable club (treat anything you hear to the contrary with a large basin full of salt), part of whose site can be used for social or affordable housing, retaining the club and still producing a return on investment, is being forced out to make a larger profit for the landlords and their hedge fund owners. If they get away with it, it could be your club next.

Turning to the game I was attending, I had been delayed by traffic for Anfield so kitted myself out with waterproof trousers and hi-vis on the bus. I arrived in a dead heat with the teams coming out, and took up position by the side of the pitch. I am not sure if we have renewed the bulbs on the floodlights, but the pictures on my monitor were better illuminated than usual, even at the other end of the pitch.

Ben Barnes

James McCulloch returned from suspension. When I started watching the game, a card that would attract a three match suspension in the Football League attracted 35 days at our level. This was addressed some years ago, but in the recent bad weather, the three games worked out to 28 days, the gap between the card and his next opportunity to play adding up to 45 days.

James McCulloch

Harry Cain had an also weather delayed return from surgery.

Harry Cain

The visitors opened the scoring after 10 minutes, with Josh Klein-Davies replying 10 minutes later.

I swapped sides about half way through.

Valter Fernandes

For the second half, I used the new gate to access the pitch. It was resisting opening, and Dave "The Monster" was trying to attract my attention. Having squeezed through, I stopped to listen to what Dave was trying to tell me. He pointed out I was trying to open it the wrong way.

I stopped for a few minutes behind the goal, and was able to get a few pictures, which I have generally not been able to do, which turned my attention again to floodlight bulbs.

Chris Almond

Josh Klein-Davies secured the result with a second goal, just at the moment I was having a spot of bother with damp air condensing on the front of the lens. I had cleared it in time to catch the celebration.

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 (Klein-Davies 2) Goole AFC 2

Pretty Flamingo

At the end of last week, the gay bit of my Twitter feed took an unexpected interest in Scarborough, as it was announced the American chanteuse Britney Spears is playing the Open Air Theatre in the summer. Being as unfamiliar with Ms Spears' work as I am with the Premier League, I concentrated on Prescot Cables' visit to Scarborough Athletic's Flamingo Land Stadium, which, sadly, is only named after the local attraction rather than hosting their flamingoes.

The ground's new postcode is not recognised by Mr Google's maps (it takes months to work through all systems), but they have a not strictly accurate marker for the entrance off Seamer Road. This is convenient from the south and west, but, as I found later, from the town it is three sides of a square. Near the ground, Lloyd Dean's father, Barry, pulled alongside to ask if I knew where the entrance was (I did not), and offer a lift for the last few hundred yards. I hopped in, and we flagged down a home supporter, who suggested we park in the side streets, about the same distance from our destination as when I got in the car.

The attendance was 1377, about the upper limit of comfort as the ground stands. It is some way short of the official 2070 capacity, the calculations must assume tall people will let short people stand in front of them, and they could make it better known there are no seats for non season ticket holders. I noticed some metal terraces to be installed along the side, which will increase capacity and comfort.

Jordan Wynne in front of the crowd at the covered end

Reece McNally with a full house at the side

Those on the coach reported bag searches and confiscated drinks, but I breezed in with full luggage and a bottle of water. I then committed a cardinal error, trying new kit without having fully tested it. I received a camera hand grip as a present, and planned to try it. I need both hands changing lenses standing up, with the body hanging free on the strap, and had not considered how to do it with one hand full. Then the clip that worked well, if stiffly, at home, proved more resistant to hands cold from a walk along the front and keeping my lunchtime haddock out of the sight of inquisitive seagulls. By the time I changed to the neck strap, the tunnel was in position, so I stood behind the pitch perimeter.

We won the toss and elected to play towards the covered end, which met with boos from the locals. The clear seaside light gave me some crisp pictures. Joey Faux returned to action - and had his name announced correctly rather than ending up as Fox, as elsewhere in Yorkshire.

Joey Faux

Reece Fishwick, however, acquired a silent "w".

Reece Fishwick

It looked as though we were short of players fit, eligible and able to travel, as we only named three substitutes.

Ben Barnes was kept busy.

Ben Barnes

I swapped sides half way through the first half.

Chris Almond

The hosts proved more effective than when visiting us a few weeks ago, and went in at half time two goals up.

I wondered where to stand for the second half, but there was space when some home supporters changed ends. A substantial number stayed put, and were not pleased with those of ours who wanted to stand behind the goal we were attacking. I did not see much of the disagreement - mainly backs of heads - but the Police, who were outside as I came in, were called and ejected one or two individuals, and seemed concerned at people using the toilet more than once. The officers looked quite young: wait 'til you get to my age constable... There was talk afterwards of the need for an away end, but I have been in bigger crowds without, so I think it depends more on the home club dealing with the small number of idiots that inevitably appear in a large crowd.

I was happy with the floodlights, which gave good results, at least in the half we were attacking.

Matthew Hamilton

A third goal in the last five minutes secured the points for Scarborough and did their goal difference no harm.

I was still unacquainted with the quicker route to town, so returned the way I came. I hoped to take refreshment in the Stumble Inn, but it had the problem of a micropub, a couple of dozen people left nowhere to perch, so I stumbled back out and adjourned to the more spacious Angel.

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

Final score: Scarborough Athletic 3 Prescot Cables 0