Head for the Hill-Woods

There is often talk in English football of how we need a winter break. Those of us in the non League game know we usually have one, you just cannot predict when it will be. Prescot Cables' game at home to Burscough on the New Year bank holiday fell to a frozen pitch. About 90% of it looked fine in the pictures I saw, but one corner does not get the sun, and, if it has frozen overnight, air temperature is not usually enough to thaw it. Having not seen the game at Bamber Bridge on Boxing Day, it was three weeks since I had seen Cables play.

A lot can happen in that time, and three more players moved on, Rob Doran to Colwyn Bay, Michael Simpson returning to Runcorn Linnets, and Joe Nicholson joining his brother Josh in returning to Skelmersdale United, and also registering with Ashton Town in the Hallmark Security League. This blog wishes them all the best in their future endeavours.

Joe Nicholson

In the other direction, Marcus Burgess rejoins us in goal ...

Marcus Burgess

... Chris Almond joins us from Skelmersdale United ...

Chris Almond

... and Harry Cain from Altrincham.

Harry Cain is tracked by Pitchero's new video technology

Glossop North End's Twitter feed reported that another familiar face would be at the game, as Jonah O'Reilly had moved from Skelmersdale to our hosts. Jonah's father, a former regular on the Gasworks Side, was watching, although his dogs had wisely stayed at home in the warm.

Jonah O'Reilly

This was our Train Crew's first organised trip for a while, and Dr Phil and I joined Richie, our leader in beer and pub choices, in the Piccadilly Tap. We collected Phil's friend David, who was born in Glossop, where his grandfather had been the local undertaker. When we arrived in Glossop, I was about to point out the ground by reference to its neighbouring landmark (or blot on the landscape), but the large chimney has been demolished to make way for housing.

More supporters joined us in the Star, but I eschewed the chance to move with them to the Friendship Inn, preferring to read the paper before getting to the ground in time for a pie. Mettrick's pies are some of the best in the league, and have been sold at at the FA Cup Final, presumably due to the connection between Glossop and Arsenal through the Hill-Wood family. The pastry, unlike some, does not need a chisel to break the crust, and with commendable attention to detail, the hosts supply a spork, so you do not miss out on any gravy.

I am not sure whether the day was properly called foggy or misty, as different forecasters use different visibility criteria to distinguish them (at least on land, it is internationally agreed at sea). We could not see the hills, but there was no issue seeing the football. The hosts are in the playoff positions, and presented a strong challenge, despite losing two players to injury in the first few minutes, and were 2-0 up at half time.

For the second half, we were playing towards the former chimney end. As it was dark enough to have the floodlights on from the start, and they are in a side arrangement, I would not get much from the covered standing at the end, and would be better under a pylon. The pylon at that end is in front of the stand, the next is between the dugouts, so I found myself alongside our own half.

Danny Flood

The hosts scored a third shortly after the restart.

With Dominic Marie following up the form that won him the Warrington Motors Player of the Month award for December by scoring in this game, I was trying to get a decent picture where he was both recognisable and in action, but it can be pot luck with the light at this time of year.

Dominic Marie

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

Final score: Glossop North End 3 Prescot Cables 1 (Marie)

Fog lights

Prescot Cables entered their game against Ramsbottom United needing all the points we could get. The previous week's results left us in a relegation position, behind Goole on goal difference. The league is so tight that one more goal would have put us ahead on goals scored, and a not unrealistic 5-1 would have taken it to results in games between the clubs. Ramsbottom started the day three points ahead with poor away form, but we have usually struggled to obtain a result against them.

The day started clearly enough, with sunny spells.

Joe Herbert

However, as the temperature dropped, the fog started to form.

Valter Fernandes

It was patchy in places, and very much rising from the ground, with the air above about twenty feet looking clear.

The visitors had scored first, after seven minutes, with Rob Doran levelling the scores after half an hour.

Rob Doran

By half time, we were completely fog bound.

Jordan Wynne

Were I a betting man, and allowed by the FA to be so, I would have been tempted to open a book on whether we would be able to finish, or if I would encounter my second weather related abandonment of the year, having escaped such an outcome for the previous twenty five.

My photographic activities for the afternoon were more or less at an end, with the action only clear right in front of me. I could see our substitutes warming up on the opposite touchline, but would have been hard pressed to identify them with any certainty. Ramsbottom scored again, then Jordan Wynne was brought down for a penalty, converted by Rob Doran, three minutes later. The point slipped out of our grasp in the last 20 minutes, with the visitors scoring twice without reply. Those who saw it through the mist suggested the third goal was quite a good free kick.

With Goole losing 3-1, we remain level below them on goal difference, but with two more goals scored. Burscough are a distance away at the bottom of the table, but looked as though Dave Powell's meticulous approach to looking out for players was starting to pay off with results. Of particular concern was that he had secured Marcus Burgess in goal. However, for reasons best known to themselves, the club decided to part company with Dave, with the result that both he and Marcus were watching us, with the latter being available for us once the formalities have been completed.

With a change in management, it is inevitable some players will move on. Phil Bannister, who has been an excellent servant of the club in over 100 appearances in two spells with us, has been snapped up by Burscough.

Phil Bannister

Josh Nicholson, who has been a useful member of the squad in the last year, clearly impressed Ashton Town in our Senior Cup game, as he has joined them, as well as registering back at Skelmersdale United in our league.

Josh Nicholson in action against Ashton Town

This blog extends its best wishes to both Phil and Josh in their future endeavours. There are more arrivals and departures, but I will save those for the next game.

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

Final score: Prescot Cables 2 (Doran 1 + 1 pen) Ramsbottom United 4

Things to do in Goole in the fog

As I travelled to Prescot Cables' game at Goole AFC, the weather varied across the country. It had frozen in Liverpool, but the Met Office App suggested it had not in Yorkshire. I therefore set out into fog, then encountered fine views in the Hope Valley, until another wall of fog in the Edale area. It was clear when I got off the train at Sheffield, leaving in the seat behind me a Nantwich Town supporter with a nasty cough. I am not sure why he was staying on, as Nantwich were playing at Shaw Lane.

My main tourism in Sheffield was indoors, in the Graves Art Gallery, trying my varifocals for the first time in a gallery (it takes precision neck work to look at the pictures at the right angle). The fog reappeared after Doncaster, along with news from the M62 that the coach had broken down, and we were expected to kick off at 3.30. This turned out to be optimistic, and, had I known, I would have set up office in the Costa opposite the station.

I went to the ground, to find we were not now expected to start until 4pm. Speaking to Bram Johnstone's father, I liked the look of the soup he had procured from the tea bar, so I went for some, to find it had run out, but there was some excellent vegetable pasta. The replacement coach brought the team at 3.40, and they proceeded straight to warm up, followed a couple of minutes later by Phil Priestly carrying a mug of tea - the tea being no surprise, the goalkeeper needs to be warm before going out, but I am not sure how he managed to lay hands on the chinaware.

Phil Priestly

It looked unlikely to freeze, but we were concerned about the fog, which, fortunately, did not get thick enough to halt play.

James McCulloch

The Victoria Pleasure Ground has a running track, so on the stand side the match officials and the coaches in the technical areas are far enough away to block quite a large angle of view. After a few minutes, I went round the Curva Ferrovia (I am not sure it is called that, but they are welcome to the name) to face the stand.

The view from the railway end

This side had the advantage of less people in the way, apart from the ball boys and girls, who were small enough to see over, but had the disadvantage of the long jump pit taking me further away from the pitch. Lighting was good when play came near enough.

Valter Fernandes

I went back to the stand side for what I thought was the last couple of minutes, and was as far as I could be from our goal when the hosts scored, and the announcement told me we had played 36 minutes. We have had issues with falling apart when we went down, but seem to have put that behind us, with Lloyd Dean restoring parity three minutes before time.

Lloyd Dean

The second half started as the train I had planned to catch was departing. The lighting was effectively that of an evening game, and the fog meant there was not a lot of point capturing anything that was not happening in the quarter of the pitch in front of me.

Rob Doran put us in the lead after a few minutes.

Rob Doran

We had opportunities to extend the lead, but could not find the net. Unusually, we finished having made no substitutions. Whilst there is a temptation to bring on a fresh legs later in the game, it carries a risk whilst the players get used to the change, so I can see the sense, if the team are defending a one goal lead and there is no obvious player tiring or injured, of keeping the balance as it is.

On the way home, the online travel tools came into their own, with my train from Goole being late, I could see my connection at Doncaster was also late, saving an hour on the journey. National Rail could, however, make their station plans (for the location of the platforms) easier to find on mobiles, and they have not yet developed a tool to see the density of dawdling Yorkshirepersons in the subway.

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

Final score: Goole AFC 1 Prescot Cables 2 (Dean, Doran)

Fog bound

There was a sombre start to Prescot Cables' game against Kendal Town in the Integro Doodson Cup last Tuesday. The previous evening, Shaw Lane AFC player Dan Wilkinson collapsed on the pitch during their game at Brighouse Town, and died later in hospital. According to the British Heart Foundation, an average of 12 people under 35 die each week (most in their sleep) from undetected heart conditions. Each is devastating for their families and friends, but even those of us who never met Dan or saw him play will feel affected by his death occurring in our environment, and in this competition. My observance of the minute's silence was also not without a sense of relief that the person standing next to me was still with us - Jack Phillips' brother Anthony making what looks to be a good recovery from sudden life threatening illness earlier in the year.

There had been heavy rain earlier in the evening, with games in the Manchester area, including at Manchester City, having been postponed or abandoned. Looking at the cloud that settled over us, I suspected our game may not survive the weather.

As it was not raining yet, I went to the Gasworks Side. Jack Phillips was brought down on the edge of the area after about 10 minutes, and converted the resulting penalty.

Jack Phillips

The wet weather had brought out the wildlife, even larger than the specimens I have spent 15 years trying to stop flattening themselves under my back door (or teleporting through it) to invade my kitchen.

I am not sure if we have hedgehogs, er, hogging our hedges, but they would have plenty of tasty snacks.

The anticipated rain did not appear, but during the first half the mist was closing in to the extent that I changed my match prediction from abandoned due to rain to the same outcome due to fog.

Michael Simpson

I went back to the Gasworks Side for the second half, pausing for a couple of quick snaps behind the goal.

The visitors may have been used to this - I may have been unlucky on my trips to the Lake District, but mist seems not to be uncommon. In any event they scored twice to secure the tie.

Meanwhile the fog continued to thicken. I cannot remember if the test for visibility is seeing one touchline from the other or both goals from the half way line (the practical distinction is not large), but we were just about keeping within it.

Jonah O'Reilly

When the action came close enough to get a picture through the gloaming, the light reflected from the fog also prompted the camera to select a lower ISO setting than at a normal floodlit game, although I did not take advantage by increasing the shutter speed.

With the fog still closing in (fortunately, even if we had scored an equaliser, the game would have gone to penalties without extra time). I gave up about ten minutes from the end.

Impromptu treatment for cramp

After the game there were presentations for the Rogues & Rascals Barbershop Man of the Match and Warrington Motors Player of the Month awards. The former includes a voucher for a free haircut. Everyone on the field this evening looked tidy, but sometimes it is tempting to give the award to one of the opposition and tell them the barber will stay open to see them as an emergency. As for the Player of the Month, I suspect the sponsors are not quite so generous with free products.

The Rogues & Rascals background board is a bit narrow, so shoulders will be outside in most cases. The Warrington Motors board is wider, so both presenter and recipient can fit in front. That is no guarantee you have checked where they actually are.

James McCulloch receives the Player of the Month award - as shot

The published version - Photoshop is your friend!

There are ways in which defeat in this competition has a sliver lining - Kendal were rewarded with a trip to Workington on a Tuesday night in November, and have slightly more chance of the gate receipts covering everybody's costs than we would have.

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

Final score: Prescot Cables 1 (Phillips pen) Kendal Town 2.

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.