Sunshine after rain

A couple of weeks' steady rain meant Prescot Cables' game at home to Ramsbottom United was our first competitive fixture since Scarborough at the end of January. Skemersdale United have not been able to play on the pitch either, and it looked as though it had benefited from three weeks' rest and from the grass starting to grow again.

As well as the pitch having had chance to dry, I anticipated being dry too, as no rain was forecast. There was even sun, which at this time of the year means it is tricky to sit behind the goal line at the Safari Park End. The light is mainly from the side for pictures, but the sun is low enough to dazzle, and bright enough that I cannot see the camera screen. I therefore sat in the shade of the side perimeter. An issue I did not have a couple of years ago is boards on the Gasworks Side giving a strong backlight - a product of our success selling advertising. The D5300's sports mode automatically uses matrix metering,  so I experimented with shutter priority and spot and weighted metering. The latter had some advantages, although I am not sure it outweighed the disadvantage of having to manually adjust shutter speed as play went into the shade.

Reece Fishwick

We quickly imposed ourselves when Reece Fishwick was brought down for a penalty converted by Chris Almond.

One of  the more ominous sights in a game is a player going down with no-one near him, and this proved to be the case when Josef Faux landed awkwardly after jumping for the ball, injuring his knee. Sadly, early reports suggest he may be out for some time.

Josef Faux

The resulting substitution meant James Edgar returned from injury somewhat earlier than he expected.

James Edgar

A lot of sports photography involves techniques you can learn - looking at published photographs to see what works, mastering camera settings, cropping and lighting. However, there is something, that we can call 1/10s (probably less than that) that separates professionals from those of us in the amateur field. It is the difference in reaction time between getting the fingers making contact with the ball and getting it a foot away flying off to safety.

Ben Barnes

It is also the difference between getting the ball on the head of the player and ... well you see the pattern.

Chris Almond heads for his second goal ...

... joins Ernie in watching it go in ...

... and celebrates.

To access the pitch for the second half, I used the smart new gate installed by our sponsors Joseph's Joinery - the only snag being that with a bolt at the bottom as well as the top, I need someone to close it behind me. The cover at the Eaton Street end gave me some shadow to work in. Ben Barnes was sensibly wearing a cap, but I do not recall ever having seen a linesman wearing one, even though in this case he was looking straight into the sun for most of the 45 minutes.

The linesman watches Reece McNally

We had taken the opportunity presented by the weather to play friendlies against Southport and Chorley, and made a new signing, Junior Dos Santos, who has played with West Ham's youth setup and recently relocated to the north. Some tweets telling us he was enjoying training and looking forward to playing for the club went a long way to ensuring an enthusiastic welcome when he came on.

Junior Dos Santos

The visitors' goal came when Ben Barnes made one of those howlers that keep goalkeepers awake at night - an innocuous free kick came in his direction, he had the options of gathering it in his hands, stopping it with his feet or falling on it. A moment's hesitation meant he did none, and the ball trickled into the net. It is the goalkeeper's lot that talk after the game was of whether I had a picture of the miss rather than one of the acrobatic save I have published above.

For the last quarter of an hour, the shadow of the stand was long enough to let me take position by the side of the pitch.

Matthew Hamilton

We were joined for the afternoon by some friends from Larvik, Norway, the home town of the father and son Norwegian internationals Gunnar and Hallvar Thoresen. The Thoresens made their names with Larvik Turn, whereas our visitors support the town's older football team but younger sports club, IF Fram. They have sponsored some shirt numbers in the name of the town for a couple of seasons, and were making their first visit to Prescot.

Bjørn Nilsson from Larvik presents Baba Conteh with his Man of the Match 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 2 (Almond 2 (1 pen)) Ramsbottom United 1.

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

Crown green goaling

I took advantage of the connection times between trains to do a little church hopping on my way to Prescot Cables' game at Clitheroe. In Preston, I had been to St Walburge's Catholic Church for a First Communion a few months ago and felt I had missed something as I was whisked in and out as a guest: this was my third attempt to visit to appreciate the sheer scale and the detail of the place, my previous two changes at Preston being disrupted by waiting for pitch inspections. St Walburge's is very much back in use after being on the verge of closure a few years ago. Moving on to Blackburn, the Cathedral and the Borough Council have created the Cathedral Quarter, a vast improvement on the windswept bus shelters that greeted visitors arriving by train previously, and which matches the clean lines of the interior, although I have to admit that as cathedrals go, as I looked around I did not see many opportunities for arty photos.

We had sent some players out on loan up the road in Padiham to get some game time: Marcus Burgess returning after injury, Josef Faux returning from travelling, and Tunde Owolabi, who seemed to be doing well enough getting back into the team, but felt it would be of use to him. Marcus is already familiar with the surroundings.

Marcus Burgess visits Prescot with Padiham in 2014

Once in Clitheroe, I went straight to the ground to reconnoitre the territory. I have taken enough pictures from the terraces, but had not considered the vantage point from pitchside. There are some interesting gradients, not just a side to side slope.

During the warm up, the referee was looking suspiciously at how well Ben Barnes was filling the goalmouth, wondering whether the crossbar was the regulation eight feet above the ground for all of its length. It is not an uncommon situation, but I suspect the pitch may be due some work in this area over the summer.

Ben Barnes

I then turned my attention to our  players warming up. It is a little known fact that cones have a life independent of the clubs that procured them.

I was looking out for a couple of new members of the squad, and was able to catch Matthew Hamilton, who came on as a substitute in the second half.

I took up position at the lower side of the slope, behind the goal we were attacking. A couple of boys expressed concern that I might get accidentally clattered in my position, and recommended I retreat behind the barrier. I thought it was middle aged types like me who were supposed to be concerned about 'elf 'n' safety.

Chris Almond opened the scoring after twelve minutes.

Chris Almond

Ben Barnes was called into action several times, culminating in a penalty save just before the half hour. Unfortunately, we undid the good work a minute or so later when we left a gap in the defence for Alexander Newby to exploit. Josh Klein-Davies restored our advantage five minutes later.

Josh Klein-Davies celebrates his goal

For the second half, I decided to stay the same side of the pitch, to get the half of the team I missed in the first half. With the nets attached to the pitch perimeter, I was committed to this side if I did not want to start climbing over fences, and I am built for comfort rather than manoeuvrability. Having scored individually in the first half, Josh Klein-Davies and Chris Almond teamed up for a third.

Josh Klein-Davies forces Chris Thompson to commit himself ...

... and Chris Almond puts the ball away

I was quite happy with the lighting conditions.

Reece Fishwick

Having chosen to be the side of the dugouts and the linesman, I would need to stay behind the goal whether I liked it or not - as it happened it worked out quite well.

Valter Fernandes

The hosts made a determined push during the last 10 minutes, but some solid defence ensured we retained our lead.

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

Final score: Clitheroe 1 Prescot Cables 3 (Almond 2, Klein-Davies)

Better light, not such good football

Prescot Cables' decisive win "away" to Skelmersdale United on New Year's Day placed us top of the table as we went into the first weekend of the year. We need to be realistic about the likelihood of staying there, we have played four or five more games than the teams around us, and most are in form that suggest they would win at least some of their games in hand. Of course, whether we stay in a playoff position at least will depend at least as much on our own form, and we had the opportunity to test ourselves against Colne, who were the last team to beat us in the league back in October.

After a few weeks of grey skies and rain, we had a clear day, much easier right throughout the photographic process.

Andy Scarisbrick

The better weather had brought out the crowds, and we attracted a healthy 478, second in the division only to Tadcaster hosting South Shields.

James McCulloch

Having made sure to capture the Dugout Irregulars a couple of games ago, it was the turn of the Gasworks Side Regulars.

Jazz McCulloch

The light was good to the end of the half.

Joe Herbert, time 15:43, 300mm f/5.6, 1/500s ISO 2800

This was looking as though it would not be a vintage performance, and neither side had been able to impose themselves by half time.

The light was holding up well, unlike the team, who were having as much trouble with co-ordination as in the first half. With Colne coming out stronger, they went ahead after three minutes. I had settled in front of the Roadshow End, where the most vocal groups of supporters had positioned themselves for a while, so there was plenty of noise.

Jordan Wynne is tripped ...

... and lines up the resulting free kick with James Edgar

Any hopes of this being a good day on the field, and keeping our top spot, slipped away with a second goal from the visitors after twenty minutes. Still, this was the first time for a few weeks the light remained good throughout, with the floodlights assisted by the last of the civil twilight.

Reece McNally

After the game, there were the usual awards, with the Roanza Truck & Van Man of the Match going to Valter Fernandes.

Valter Fernandes

The Fence End also presented their Pesky Bullon d'Or: I am not sure if there are any criteria for the award, but I think it was voted for on the @CablesNation Twitter account, the winner being Lloyd Dean.

Graham Nevitt and Mike Rice present Lloyd Dean with his award

A close up of the Pesky Bullon d'Or

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 0 Colne 2.

The right stop

I have been to Ossett on so many occasions, I can now travel on autopilot. I can even afford to be vague as to which club we are playing: if I find our coach parked outside Ossett Town, opposite the bus station, it is time to get off, whereas if it is not, I need to stay on for a couple more stops to Albion.

I had seen the team sheet online, and a few of us were surprised Lloyd Dean was on the bench. However, we have just assembled not just a team that plays well together, but a squad can do so in a surprising number of permutations, allowing us to take full advantage to rotate players. Unusually for this level, this also applies in goal, with Ben Barnes having performed well whilst Marcus Burgess was injured, and Marcus was able to return whilst Ben was on holiday.

Marcus Burgess

I have remarked before on the microclimate affecting Ingfield, being a couple of degrees colder than the town. Our video analyst Josh remarked that it was a bit cold, but he says that in places I think have been positively balmy for the time of year. I have noticed since working pitchside, that the perimeter fence often provides a convenient windbreak, an advantage he does not have, being often above the protection even of the ground perimeter.

I was not keen on the width (or lack of it) of the run off behind the goal, so I took up position by the side of the pitch. The ground has a slight slope, and falls away sharply behind one end, so you get plenty of shots against the sky. Add that this was the earliest sunset of the year for us (it had been getting later for a week, but we were further east than the previous week), throw in a sky that political journalist and Dulwich Hamlet supporter Conor Pope once described as "England Euro 96 away shirt grey", and there were some good contrasts.

James Edgar

I was only just settled in my place when James Edgar opened the scoring. I had better luck capturing the shot when Josh Klein-Davies added a second.

Josh Klein-Davies lines up his shot

Chris Almond ensured we had a healthy three goal lead at half time.

Chris Almond

At half time I did a quick photoshoot for Josh, who wanted a picture for the cover of his university coursework. With people doing things like working a camera, it is considerably easier to take a picture of them pretending to do so in a controlled situation rather than trying to catch them doing so in the wild.

For the second half, I went to the bottom of the hill, and found a similar issue with the width of the run off, so I settled for the side again. I was barely in position before James Edgar opened the scoring for the half. More or less my first shot was the celebration.

I had operated for most of the first half on shutter priority, as the sports mode was giving me too slow a speed, and left the metering in spot mode from the previous game. For this half the floodlights came fully into play, so I tried centre weighted, before settling on matrix (which is also used by the sports mode). The lights at Ossett are quite bright and white so it worked quite well.

Reece Fishwick

Our fifth goal came directly from a free kick from the touchline by Josh Klein Davies, with Chris Almond completing a repeat of the scoring pattern from the first half.

A late substitution also saw Tunde Owolabi return to the team, after short spells at Hyde United and Glossop North End.

Tunde Owolabi

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

Final score: Ossett Town 0 Prescot Cables 6 (Edgar 2, Klein-Davies 2, Almond 2)

The colour of the shirt

Hyde United's supporters' coach to Prescot Cables had just dropped off its passengers as I arrived for our game. I was sporting my pink and blue striped rugby-style shirt - as I never get to London to watch Dulwich Hamlet these days, I have to get wear out of it somehow. To be fair, I should not wear it with my waxed jacket, the colours clash horribly. Two gentlemen in the queue took issue with my clothing choices, commenting that a man needs to be brave to wear pink. With some people around, you need to be brave to leave space between the ground and your knuckles, but we will let that pass.

The weather had been wet for a few days, with most of the matches in the area being postponed, and our VertiDraining again paying off, as we survived. The inspection is concerned with the bit the players use - the bit I use, where the substitutes warm up, was decidedly squishy.

A couple of visitors were familiar to us. Dominic Marie, who left us for Marine in October, was now settled at Hyde. I did not capture a very good shot of his return, as he was on the bench, and we were into the territory of pot luck catching specific players by the time he came on. David Brown has been popping up all over Yorkshire, usually scoring against us, for as long as I have been writing, and has now found his way to Cheshire (we observe traditional, and County FA, boundaries on these pages).

David Brown

After the last game, where the goal celebrations pictures featured those frequenting the Fence End, one of the Dugout Irregulars light heartedly expressed a little jealousy that they did not seem to feature, so I made sure I got them in.

The Dugout Irregulars watch Reece McNally

We enjoyed a competitive first half, with a couple of good chances, but without a goal. The match report from the visitors provided a fair record.

Harry Cain

A couple of minutes into the second half Lloyd Dean opened the scoring. I was in a good position to capture it.

Lloyd Dean shoots for goal

The League website has the next two scores in the wrong order, as it suggests Thomas Pratt levelled for the visitors before we went ahead again. However, we went two ahead with a goal from Jordan Wynne. I was on the side by this time, and caught the celebration.

As this was the earliest sunset of the year for a home game, I experimented with spot metering, which seemed to give reasonable results.

Baba Conteh

After our second goal, Hyde made some changes, including bringing off our traditional nemesis, David Brown, and replacing him with Dominic Marie.

Ben Barnes denies Dominic Marie

The almost inevitable happened when Dominic brought the visitors level with 15 minutes to go. We defended well for the remaining time to ensure we kept hold of a point.

After the game, I was speaking to Louis Coyne's father, who I had not realised played for Cables under Joe Gibiliru when I started watching in the 1990s. We agreed on the difficulty of getting a good picture of centre backs, as they can have a good game without getting much of the ball if they are closing down the opposition's ability to play, and there are often other players blocking the view anyway. As it happened I had a bit more luck with that than usual in this game.

Louis Coyne lines up a free kick

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 (Dean, Wynne) Hyde United 2.