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

Stepping on our blue suede shoes

There was reason for optimism ahead of Prescot Cables' game against Clitheroe. Our last game was a morale boosting win against Padiham, and Clitheroe's league position suggested that this could be winnable. There was also the club Christmas party in the evening, with an Elvis tribute act. Ah, hang on, not that Elvis.

Both sides had been affected by the weather: the visitors last played 21 days previously, and we had to wait 14 days. Many supporters were unsure whether this game would go ahead, as it had been raining heavily until the small hours of the morning. On arrival, we could see the benefits of having the ground to ourselves: we can postpone Reserve games to avoid damage to the pitch, whereas for AFC Liverpool the referee only considered whether it was playable on the day, not the medium term good of the surface.

The day was reasonably bright, and the evenings had been getting lighter for a week or so. I have observed this before, but did not know the reason. However, the BBC have published a handy explanation.

We started well enough, with some decent attacks and Mason Ryan having a shot saved. However, the visitors started to get into the game after about a quarter of an hour, and were rewarded with two goals in quick succession just before half time. This was not irretrievable, and there was an increase in tempo early in the second half when Sam Corlett and new signing Oscar Durnin came on.

Oscar Durnin

It was not to last, Clitheroe's third goal starting the collapse, with three more being added in the next 15 minutes or so. Even a late penalty brought no relief when Rob Doran hit the crossbar and one of our players was adjudged to be offside in the resulting scramble for the rebound.

In a one sided game it can be difficult to get usable pictures, the collection this week was smaller than the 60 I usually aim for. It was not easy finding some for the Merseymart either. I send four: they need to be the right shape for the space, and I make sure they are of different players - without that restriction I could have provided a complete set featuring Jack Phillips.

Jack Phillips

Rob Doran

Daniel Whitehall

James McCulloch

I found the four above, only to realise in the newsagent's on Tuesday that they do not do a Merseymart in Christmas week.

I did not make it to the party in the end, not shifting from the pub after the game. I saw a couple of pictures, and it looked well attended. I first heard of Elvis when he died, but it looked as though people for whom he was the background to their formative years like to turn out for a tribute act. The moment of the day for me came when a gentleman came round the pub selling clothes of what may have been suspect provenance. Our friend Tony responded with a completely straight face and asked, "Have you got any lawnmowers?".

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

Final score: Prescot Cables 0, Clitheroe 6

The edge of the world - or at least the county

When the fixture list comes out, there are games that jump out for those of us who travel independently. One such was this weekend's game away to Padiham - some distance away; somewhere most of us do not have cause to visit (I last took the train east of Blackburn to a FA Cup game at Great Harwood Town 20 years ago); a new ground; and some Good Beer Guide pubs on the way.

A couple of our Pharmacologists made late cancellations. Phil had forgotten he had a holiday booked, so had to eschew the Bridge Bier Huis, a Belgian style establishment in Burnley, for beers actually available in Belgium, whilst Jon succumbed to food poisoning, or was attending a wedding, I never worked out which.

As we were leaving the Bier Huis, an elderly gentleman at the next table wished us well and reminisced about games between our clubs in the Lancashire Combination.

Padiham's neat, compact ground is just a couple of hundred yards back from the main road, although quite tucked away, as we were to find. Although there is a bus about every 10 minutes, there were seven of us, so a minibus taxi was about the same price per head. Sat nav has not yet reached Burnley's taxis, so, following an attempt at direction with "follow that bus" just as it pulled in to a stop, we used Mr Google's maps on my phone. This worked until the little blue arrow decided to stop moving just before the crucial junction - fortunately someone spotted a sign.

Once inside, we were soon under way with a goal from Isaac Kusoloka. I got a couple of pictures, which Isaac put into a montage.

Montage and effects by Isaac Kusoloka, photos by me

No food or drink was lost in a nonetheless enthusiastic celebration.

The British Geological Society's online viewer shows maps of the rock under your feet at 1:50,000 scale, more detail than the 1:625,000 scale maps on our classroom walls at school. Padiham, like Prescot, sits on bands of sandstone alternating with the mudstone of the Pennine coal measures. Unlike Hope Street, the Arbories Memorial Ground is fortunate to be on well draining sandstone. The pitch was therefore in good condition despite the recent wet weather.

Rob Doran performs on the well drained pitch

Padiham drew level after half an hour, then Phil Bannister pulled us ahead again about 10 minutes into the second half. It was a good day for photography, the first day of the year I have been able to let the sports mode on the camera take care of shutter speeds without having to make sure it does not go too low, so I was pleased to get a picture of this goal too.

Phil Bannister shoots for goal

There was intermittent sun throughout the game. With one end of the ground facing south west, the sun was near the horizon by the end, so I moved to the side of the pitch.

Mike Kennedy

Our poor away form continued with Padiham scoring a second equaliser. We have not won away in the League all season, our position being maintained by our form at home, where we have sprung a couple of surprises on visitors expecting an easy win. However, we once again avoided defeat, so we maintained our position relative to Padiham, below us in the table.

Although the Merseymart carried pictures, they did not include a report, even of the basic facts from the League website, so I got three quarters of the back page - whatever the captions may suggest, the picture of AFC Liverpool manager Paul Moore is not one of mine.

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

Final score: Padiham 2 Prescot Cables 2 (Kusoloka, Bannister)

Goals, unfortunately not ours

Many of us approached Prescot Cables' game against Ramsbottom United with some apprehension. Our visitors had scored 84 goals in their League campaign prior to this fixture, 12 more than any other club, although there was some hope, in that they had conceded 42.

We also received the news that Connor McCarthy, our top scorer, had signed for Skelmersdale United. This was not unexpected, as it was clear his talent would attract clubs at a higher level. Skelmersdale expressed an interest after our Doodson Sport Cup fixture in November, but Connor delayed his move until now, hoping to contribute to securing our league position. Weather related postponements meant there is still work to do, but it is evidence of his character and commitment. He will find strong competition for a place at Skelmersdale, Manager Tommy Lawson maintains a squad to keep his options open, but I am confident Connor will rise to the challenge. This blog wishes him well in his future career.

Connor McCarthy gets away from the opposition at New Mills

Playing for Prescot gives the opportunity for young players to put themselves in the shop window for clubs higher up the pyramid and those in a position to pay more than expenses. The best players understand that the way to impress visiting managers and scouts is to perform well as part of our team, so we benefit too. A player progressing in his career creates opportunities for others, and a start at number 10 went to Luke Robinson.

Luke Robinson

Also starting was Franny Foy, who has been with the club for a while, mainly in the reserves, with some first team appearances, and who scored his first goal for the first team at Ossett Albion in midweek.

Franny Foy

This was the first game for some weeks that had not been threatened by rain. There was even some sunshine, which makes life considerably easier, particularly producing pictures of print quality.

Jordan Shirley- in one of the pictures I submitted to the Merseymart

James McCulloch - in the picture they used

The visitors showed their scoring prowess with two quick goals on half an hour, and finished the game as a contest with a third just before half time. There was a general consensus that Ramsbottom were the best side we have seen at Prescot so far this season, and that they have a good chance of getting themselves into a play off place.

After the game, we held the AGM of the Community Interest Company that runs the club. The most significant football announcement was that our Reserves will be playing at Hope Street next season, following AFC Liverpool's departure to Marine. Whilst this means a reduction in revenue, it also means a reduction in costs, and will hopefully make the Reserves more integrated with the first team.

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

Final result: Prescot Cables 0 Ramsbottom United 3

New Mills, old hills

I was unusually gung-ho this weekend about the prospects of Prescot Cables' game away at New Mills going ahead: with not much rain having fallen during the week, I had no inkling there would be a pitch inspection shortly before midday, by which time I was on a train climbing towards the Derbyshire hills.

I decided to make the best of the scenery, so I got off at Strines, and walked to a pub I had found on the CAMRA WhatPub site, the Fox Inn in the hamlet of Brookbottom.

The Fox Inn - 50 yards outside Greater Manchester

The entry suggests the pub is close to a railway station, which is true, it is about half a mile, although one needs a modicum of fitness to make the trip, up a steep bridleway. Once inside its foot thick walls, I enjoyed an immaculately kept pint of Robinsons' Dizzy Blonde, in what I might also describe as immaculately kept surroundings. I may have been sitting in one of the regulars' seats, as an elderly couple came in, and the gentleman was casting rather confused looks in my direction until his wife chose a table.

Had the weather been less pleasant, I would have stayed for a while, but I decided exercise was in order, and walked to the Pack Horse, a mile away up and down another hill, then on to the ground, another mile or so, involving descending to the level of the River Sett, and up another hill. I was glad to reach the town and its pavements: whilst I am used to walking country roads, I am used to a hedge in which to shelter from any passing cars that get a bit close, whereas dry stone walls look a bit less yielding.

I arrived five minutes before the scheduled kick off to find warming up still in progress. The match referee had not been happy with some areas of the pitch, and was minded to call the game off, but was prepared to accept sand being spread on the affected areas. Unfortunately, there was no sand on the premises, and a trip to the nearest builders' merchants in this part of the world is not as quick as you might at first think. Still, at least I got pictures of Manager Dave Powell and Assistant Manager Carl Furlong taking training.

Dave Powell

Carl Furlong

The original date for this fixture was the first of January's postponements. Quite a few of our Train Crew planned to travel on that occasion, but our numbers were depleted this time by some of our regulars jetting off on foreign holidays, and some taking the train to what might be a foreign holiday next season - in Scotland.

Not that we were short of supporters who travel on the coach or by car.

Dave, Cliff, Ken and Peter keep a close watch on Dave Dempsey

Players move between clubs all the time, so it is no surprise to encounter former players in the opposition line up. Mike Smith moved to New Mills earlier in the season, and was as energetic, and appeared as much in the frame, as he did when playing for us.

Connor McCarthy gets away from Mike Smith

With so few games over the last few weeks, we have not experienced the gradual extension of daylight, instead jumping from a dark second half to full daylight in a couple of jumps. Even with the delay for purchasing sand (kick off eventually occurring at 3.25), there was a decent amount of daylight right to the end.

The floodlights were on on one side for the first half, and both sides for the second. As is often the case, this gave some pictures a blue cast, which in the more extreme cases I tried to remove, you can judge for yourself how natural the end result looks.

Robert Gilroy - colour not adjusted

Phil Bannister - colour adjusted

We were disappointed not to come away with the first away win of the season, although, when we had not been able to score downhill in the first half, I thought we might find it even more difficult to do so uphill in the second. Still, all points are useful, and we kept a clean sheet and therefore avoided a defeat that would have improved the hosts' position at our expense.

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

Final score: New Mills 0 Prescot Cables 0

It is a team game and all have played their part

I remember reading a reminiscence from a colleague of the late FIFA President, Sir Stanley Rous from when he was a school teacher in Watford. The writer was refereeing in a games lesson when a boy congratulated a team mate who had just scored. "Caution that boy," Rous ordered, "it is a team game, and all have played their part". That could be a fair summation of Prescot Cables' season, which we completed at home to Ossett Town at the weekend.

Not having a playing budget means that players may be tempted by clubs who can afford to pay, or may find they cannot afford to maintain training and travel commitments without any expenses. We have used 69 players this season, the highest for some years, although not as high as you may think, the average for the last few seasons has been in the fifties.

Team game or no, the records tell us who scored the goals, so the first mention should go to Jon Bathurst, the top scorer for the season with 11 goals, which includes having to take a break of some weeks in the middle of the season to rest a recurring injury.

Jon Bathurst

Good strikers are hard to come by, as they are often snapped up by teams that can afford to pay high wages. To illustrate the point that it is a team game, Jon was one of 21 of our players to find the net this season.

Like most clubs, we have awards at the end of the season. I missed this year's presentation, as I was in London - as Dulwich Hamlet manager Gavin Rose rightly pointed out to his players, championships do not come round very often, so you should enjoy them when they do. That weekend could have been the nightmare scenario, having to choose between watching Dulwich needing a result to clinch the championship and Prescot needing a result to avoid relegation. It became apparent during March that the latter was unlikely, and the theoretical possibility was removed with the emergency extension of the EvoStik League season.

Our players of the year, all playing on Saturday, were James McCulloch (Players' and Supporters)...

James McCulloch

... Ged Murphy (Manager's), also the player with the most appearances for the season ...

Richie and Frank watch Ged Murphy take a free kick. James considers the implications of Pontefract Collieries' 10th goal at Askern Villa

... and a new award this year, Young Player - looking at the ages of the players in the programme, chosen from quite a large pool - Jack Webb.

Jack Webb

These players have all made more than 30 appearances over the season, but those who have only appeared a small number of times played their part: those who helped us get a team together to start competing back in August ...

Alejandro Barba San Felipe and Gary Williams playing at Goole

... those who played a few games in mid season ...

Max Fargin in action at Ramsbottom

... and those who have recently joined us, such as Lee Novak, replacing Adam Reid in goal for the last two games, as Adam's contract with Altrincham, and therefore his loan, only ran to the original end of the season.

Lee Novak

The final score of 2-1 to Ossett Town meant we finished 17th, one place below last year, but with more points. After a steady start to the season, being 3 points off point per game form at the end of November, we had a disappointing December and January, where some good performances did not yield results. A run of good results in March and April, with a couple of upsets for those challenging for playoff places, made safety assured with 3 or 4 weeks to go.

This year's team has been one of those I have most enjoyed watching over the years. The defining ethos that Dave Powell has instilled in the team this year has been always to maintain concentration to the final whistle. For a few seasons we have often succumbed to late goals: this season we have been scoring them, from the last minute equaliser at home to Harrogate Railway Athletic, or the last minute grab of all three points at Wakefield, through to the two against Ossett Albion last week. I cannot recall a game this season where the team has lacked energy and commitment.

It has also been a good season to be watching Cables away too: the Train Crew, which started last season when a couple of people going to a game by train arranged to meet, has produced a stream of hardy travellers, mainly people who have not previously been to away games, with good turnouts for Clitheroe and Mossley.

Some of the Train Crew at Trafford

Those who have been following the troubles we have had with the pitch will not be surprised that the areas where we had an issue with mud are, after some dry weather, now somewhat dusty, as you can see in the picture of James McCulloch above. The club have launched "Supporters on the Pitch", where supporters and local companies can pay £20 to "purchase" a square of the pitch to raise money towards sanding, vertidraining, levelling and seeding the over the summer. Dave Powell has purchased the home dugout, and coach Warren Jones has purchased a spot in front of goal at the Safari Park End. We of course also need something that money cannot buy, the right combination of sun and rain to make sure the new seed beds in and grows.

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

At least it's proper Yorkshire

Thus said our Church Treasurer, a Yorkshireperson, when I said I had been at Harrogate Railway Athletic the previous day. I am not sure what he counted as proper Yorkshire: he disdained places such as Halifax (we do that too), but he cannot have been casting aspersions on the whole West Riding, as Harrogate is in it - parts of the West Riding ended up in North, West, South and East Yorkshire for local government purposes.

The small but select group of independently travelling supporters took our pre match refreshment in the Montpellier Quarter of Harrogate. This hosted a number of establishments advertising themselves as a brasserie, which I thought is what they call a cash machine in Yorkshire. The first establishment we visited has a sporting link, Hales Bar having featured in Chariots of Fire. The bar has working gas jet cigar lighters, although they now just contribute to the heating, as it would be illegal to light a cigar, even to take outside before puffing away, as possession of lit tobacco comes within the definition of smoking for the smoke free legislation.

This being Lent, and my having given up meat for the duration, the selection at the tea bar can be somewhat limited - no horsey tastiness of a pie or burger for me. However, these days you more or less make up your own Lent regulations: I just avoid anything that is identifiably meat, so gravy on my chips was still in. Back when Lent regulations were more rigid, one odd exception in Germany was that beaver tails could be eaten, as they looked like fish. I am not sure whether Harrogate was ever well populated by beavers (Beverley in the East Riding derives its name from the semi aquatic rodents), but they seem to have found their way on to the club crest, and as the mascot.

I have mentioned in previous posts how sometimes we need to use the background to adjust the picture to get it straight. In this picture of Liam Hollett taking a header, we might look at the crossbar and think it is a candidate for adjustment.

It was: on the camera, there was not enough of a slope. Harrogate competes with Clitheroe for the steepest side to side slope in the division. The crossbar is 8' above the ground along its length, so sloping ground correctly means a sloping crossbar. We can just about see the breeze block wall in the background, which will usually be level (in the case of Leatherhead a bit too level). To get the angle right, I started with a wider crop, so I could line up against the houses behind the ground.

When we visited Harrogate last season, they were building a new clubhouse adjacent to both the main and training pitches, financed by selling their old clubhouse for development as a nursing home. As well as providing excellent facilities, the new developments have an unexpected bonus for the photographer, as they provide handy walls, windows and drainpipes against which to align a shot, at the end where it used to be quite difficult to get the angle right. Take this shot of Carl Furlong.

Having used the buildings, they have served our purpose, so we can crop them out.

Unusually, I had something to send to the Merseymart for each of Prescot's goals, although in each case the final shot before the goal went in did not capture the image I wanted. For the second goal from Jon Bathurst, it looks as though the defender is about to get the ball.

Although I correctly captioned this as goal no 2 on the slide show, I thought this one from a second or so before, showing Jon leaving the defenders in disarray, would be the better image for the paper, and it was indeed the one they used.

Similarly, I captured Sean Myler's debut goal for Prescot's third.

However, a shot of the featured player's back does not really work, so I again used one from a second before, not quite such clear action, but at least we can see the player's face.

Finally, Liam Dawson's first goal was scored from a few yards away from this picture, but it was close enough to go in with the caption "Liam Dawson avoids his marker for Prescot's first goal".

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

Hats, kits and polyester pitches

The Evo-Stik League season is now under way, with Prescot Cables having played their first game of the season away to Woodley Sports.

The quickest way to get there (with the best options for Good Beer Guide pubs) seemed to be via Stockport. Since I first got a train through Stockport a few years ago, I had been intrigued by a chimney that you can see from the viaduct.

Stockport was a centre of hat making from the 16th century until 1997, when the last factory closed, so the town has the Hat Works, a well presented little museum. They also had a small display on local sport, apparently Stockport is something of a centre for lacrosse, a sport I have not had the opportunity to watch.

Woodley's ground is in the middle of a building site at the moment, as it is to become part of the new Stockport Sports Village, to be run by the Stockport Sports Trust, which operates the former municipal sports facilities in partnership with Stockport Council.

Woodley have one of the few synthetic pitches at this level, a Field Turf surface, with the "grass" being polyester fibres attached to a polyurethane base, with a rubber infill, avoiding the carpet burns synonymous with the nylon based surfaces of the eighties.For photography it does not make a lot of difference, although the more predictable bounce can sometimes make it easier to keep up with the ball. The fibres seem to be darker than grass, which, combined with the infill (mainly from recycled material from tyres) makes the pitch look darker than grass, which is balanced by the fibres having a slightly wet look.

Prescot have a new kit for the season, supplied by PaxSport, the company run by former Prescot goalkeeper Andy Paxton, here being worn by last season's top scorer, Lee Madin.

The black band at the top looks quite distinctive, although as it does not extend a similar distance down the back, the appearance from the side takes a little getting used to. Along with a number of people who have commented on the club forum so far, I would have preferred a bolder yellow (closer to amber), I am a bit concerned about visibility on a murky afternoon in November before the floodlights are turned on, but only time will tell on that.

The photos from the game are available here.