Bank holiday weather

We have a number of rather unusual Bank Holidays in the United Kingdom (along with the Republic of Ireland, who derive them from the same Victorian legislation), in that they celebrate nothing more than that the banks are closed, rather than being tied to a religious or national festival as in most of Europe. The time at which they occur has some significance, with a holiday in August coming from Lammas, the baking of the first loaf from the new harvest. This is at the beginning of the month, and Scotland and Ireland still have a holiday at this time. England and Northern Ireland moved it to the end of August in an attempt to extend the season in holiday resorts. This could not, however, extend the good weather or stop the nights drawing in, so it is quite often cold and wet. This year was no exception.

At our level, our bank holiday games are usually against local opposition, and with the FA Cup Preliminary Round not being until the following week, there was no danger of postponements due to replays. Prescot Cables hosted Burscough.

Our visitors had the same kit as last year. I could not capture the colour very well in the sun at the end of last season, although oddly it looks a bit better in the grey light of this fixture.

James McCulloch

Burscough goalkeeper Tim Horn is well known to us, both for liking to wander, and for being quite vociferous. With injury particularly affecting our potential scorers, although there was good news that Rob Doran had been able to play for the Reserves at the weekend, we were likely to find goals hard to come by. However, we were able to keep Tim on his toes.

Yunus Giwa

One good aspect of our start to the season is our clean sheets, something we have often found difficult in the past, with goalkeeper Ciaran Gibson growing in confidence and working well with his defence.

Jack Phillips, Liam Dodd, Ciaran Gibson

With this combination, and the intermittently wet and blustery conditions, a goalless draw came as not much surprise - with a positive point being a third clean sheet in four games. and of course a point is a point, and they all add up at the end of the season.

The Management watch Joe Evans

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

Final result: Prescot Cables 0 Burscough 0

Changeable weather

On a train towards Blackpool all human life is there. On this occasion, the carriage on my little Pacer train was populated in large part by two weekend parties. I would say the noise was ear splitting, but it was mainly going straight through my skull without really troubling my ears at all.

Fylde RUFC, who were hosting Lancashire's game against Northumberland in the County Championship for the Bill Beaumont Cup, have some pictures on display of Mr Beaumont playing for Fylde, Lancashire and England. The conclusion to be drawn from them is that there was a lot more mud back then then. Pitch maintenance and the science of growing grass have improved significantly in the last few years, although it has not addressed the amount of water falling from the sky. At the risk of upsetting the Fylde Tourist Board, it seems to rain whenever I am there, not to mention the wind blowing off the sea. Fortunately the worst rain was before the start of the game, when I could shelter in the bar. Well, it was fortunate for me, not for the players warming up in it.

In the last few years, Lancashire have maintained a stable core to the team, not always easy in a competition over four weeks in May. There is significant input from our hosts, combined with young players making their way up. As our game was taking place, two of my favourite former players were playing against each other in the Championship Play Off Semi Final, James Doherty with Leeds Carnegie and Alex Davies with London Welsh.

Northumberland seemed to have warmed up better, as they took the lead before Lancashire seemed to fully get going.

As the rain eased off, to be replaced by the wind, the home side soon started to get things together. Captain Chris Johnson has been useful with his feet in these games for a few seasons, kicking most of Lancashire's conversions and penalties ...

 ... today also kicking in open play ...

... before gathering the ball to put it down for a try.

The rain started again late in the first half, which coincided with another spell of Northumberland pressure, with their scrum half, Tom Banks, giving his team 14 points with two tries he converted himself.

I am not sure what the Lancashire coaches said at half time, but the team simply overpowered the opposition in the second half, and made good use of substitutions - many of the substitutes come from Fylde, so are used to playing together, rather than just being second choices for their position who might not gel when they come on.

Even more rain did not help the visitors.

The sun came out for the end of the game, just as the announcer forgot the visitors' name, referring to substitutions for Northumbria, to the muttered consternation of the gentlemen in Northumberland blazers standing behind me. For Lancashire Steve Collins came on for Chris Johnson who had earned a rest before next week's game against Yorkshire.

Fylde were keen for people to continue to enjoy the bar and catering facilities after the game, so I stayed for a pie - the pastry tasted as though it involved suet, unfortunately not often used in a baked pie. After that, it was off to Taps in Lytham, where I spotted a few more of the crowd enjoying their excellent selection of ales.

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

Final score: Lancashire 57 (T - Riley, Spragg 2, Johnson 3, Taylor, Briers, Brennand; C - Johnson 4, Collins 2); Northumberland 19

Here be tigers

A Tuesday night visit to Prescot Cables has its intimidating features. The wind that always seems to be whipping across the pitch, the stand towering up out of the darkness, and the uncharted wilds of the gasworks side, where only the hardy tread at night.

Oddly, the visit of Lancaster City last week was the first time this season anyone has experienced these pleasures, in our first midweek home game. We have in the past entertained a Hollyoaks XI in aid of our local Willowbrook Hospice, although on this occasion some clearly felt The Only Way is Essex.

I started taking pictures in front of the tea bar, and for the second time in a row, my view was not blocked, as it normally would be, by an assistant referee. Referees at this level have a choice of diagonal, unlike in higher levels, where the left diagonal for the referee is compulsory. Use of the less common arrangement has the advantage of providing firmer footing for the assistants.

Phil Bannister, captured from the stand side

After a few minutes I joined our visiting photography student (whose name I have been told, and therefore feel embarrassed to ask again) on the gasworks side. Had I stayed put, I would probably have got a better view of our goal, from Rob Doran.

Rob Doran

At half time, I asked my fellow photographer how he was finding our floodlights. He reported that he had his ISO settings at 3200, which he did not even use indoors photographing gigs. Even at livelier gigs, the performers probably do not move as much as on the football pitch, so need slower shutter speeds. I thought use of flash may be a difference too: although flash photography is no longer prohibited by the Laws of Association Football, if it is powerful enough to make a difference, it is powerful enough to distract players and match officials. However, many entertainment venues prohibit flash, as it may induce seizures, particularly in combination with house lighting effects.

He also made an observation that illustrates the superiority of human senses over the machine, in that the light was perfectly fine to see, but less so for photography.

We thought this game might not take place: the north escaped the winds of the St Jude Storm (St Simon & St Jude surely), but it still deposited a quantity of rain the previous day. However, this day had been dry - until half time. I had looked behind the cloudy icon on the Met Office app, and spotted the 40% probability of rain, so I was prepared with my cover, whereas my colleague had used the BBC forecast, and had to put his coat over his head and camera.

James McCulloch in the rain

This turned out to be the last game of Jamie Menagh's short stay. Chester FC, with whom he had a trial in pre season, are strengthening their squad, and snapped him up, with some justification, as he impressed in his appearances for us. Dr Phil the Pharmacologist spotted the report on the Chester Chronicle site was illustrated by one of my photos: I was able to reassure him I had supplied it to the Echo (and they used in the Merseymart), and the Chronicle is part of the same Trinity Mirror stable.

Jamie Menagh

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

Final score: Prescot Cables 1 (Doran) Lancaster City 2.

Quaker oats

Prescot Cables' fixture at  Darlington was eagerly anticipated, with a larger than normal coach with tickets issued, and the proprietor of the Sun Inn laid on a reasonably priced breakfast. I am not keen on a long trip only to go to the game and come straight home, so I travelled by train on Friday (the 10:22, naturally), and visited Richmond and the National Railway Museum at Shildon. Making these journeys by bus, the locals looked strangely at my city ways of getting up as soon as I have rung the bell - follow the instructions to remain seated until the bus has stopped where I live and you will be on the bus for all eternity.

Darlington 1883 currently play at Bishop Auckland, and have announced plans to ground share with Darlington RFC, about half a mile from Darlington FC's old Feethams ground. Much of the historic industry and commerce of the town was developed by the Quaker community, reflected in the club's nickname. I am not sure even Joseph Pease, a founder of the Stockton & Darlington Railway and the first Quaker to sit in Parliament, who did not remove his hat in the Commons Chamber, wore one like this.

I expected the weather to be cold but dry, which will teach me to look at the probability of rain on the Met Office app, not just the headline weather symbol. There was an almost constant drizzle, and the floodlights were on throughout. Grey conditions create photographic opportunities, particularly when the opposition are in black and white, as our players provide a splash of colour in an almost monochrome background where the rain gives even the grass a greyish tinge.

Carl Furlong goes for a header.

Even the crowd's coats provided a background of muted tones - apart from one little chap.

James McCulloch

The rain gave a fine mist over the pictures at the far end of the pitch, significant in what was a strong defensive performance. Rob Doran was particularly active in breaking out of defence, and was rewarded with a goal.

Rob Doran

The rain was more problematic in the second half, as there was a breeze blowing on to the front of the lens, so I was spending a lot of time cleaning it, assisted by Luke, one of our pharmacologists. He only looked after lens hood for one of these operations, but I like to be generous with the assistant credits. A position at the side of the pitch did not bring much improvement. The best option would have been to return to our own half, but a lot of home supporters of the crowd of 1379 had moved to the end they were attacking, leaving it short of space. Despite Feethams having been one of the last Football League grounds at which it was possible to change ends at half time, a very small group of those home supporters remaining on the covered terracing seemed to take umbrage at any visiting supporters making a noise in their presence.

At least I was in position to get Ged Murphy's goal.

I also caught our appeal for a penalty for a foul on Callum Hoctor, turned down by the referee. The picture is as demisted as I could manage, so you can judge for yourself.

Darlington's second goal came from a free kick awarded for returning goalkeeper Adam Reid holding on to the ball for more than 6 seconds. I think this is the first time I have seen a free kick for this since the law changed from 4 steps a few years ago. I am not even sure I have seen a referee look at his watch when the goalkeeper takes the ball in his hands to determine how long it has been held.

I got a lot less pictures than usual from the second half, which reduced the overall slideshow. Not that it was an entirely bad thing: my computer decided not to start when I got back. I keep my old laptop in working order, but I hope to get my regular machine back from the repair shop by the weekend, as I am not sure I can face processing another set that slowly.

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

Glorious mud

At Prescot Cables' game against Trafford in midweek, we could see what 3 weeks without rain had done to improve the pitch. It was not to last, and the underlying saturation of the ground meant any rain was going to have trouble soaking in. There was heavy rain on Friday leaving pools of standing water. Hard work by Doug Lace and his team ensured it was drained away, making the pitch playable for Saturday's game against Clitheroe, but there is not a lot you can do about the mud.

Any more heavy rain would have made the pitch unplayable, but instead, for most of the day, there was a light rain, making the surface slippery. Even a muddy pitch today is nowhere near what we saw, even in the Football League, back in the 1970s, with Derby County's Baseball Ground being particularly notable (baseball would probably have done less damage to the surface). Even our own pitch has been improved by several years of work by our ground team.

The rain was not hard enough to keep me in the stand, but I used the rain cover for the camera throughout. As I was having a spot of bother clipping it on to the viewfinder, the tempting suggestion was made that I should put the whole cover over my head, in the manner of a large format camera.

We started off with everyone looking quite clean.

Ged Murphy

The pitch was soon starting to suffer in the areas that always give us problems.

Jon Bathurst

The mud gradually transferred itself to the players...

Sean Myler

... and some were splattered like the rider of the second place in the 3.30 at Haydock.

Enzo Benn

AFC Liverpool's next 4 fixtures will take place before our next home game in 2 weeks' time, so we should hope for more dry weather. In an ideal world, it may be better not to play when the pitch is this wet, but we are at the stage of the season where we need to get fixtures completed if there is a chance of doing so. Whilst we have been fortunate in the way our fixtures have fallen to match the drier weather either side of the Pennines, AFC Liverpool, having all their games to the west, have not been so lucky, and will have their first week with three games (Saturday, Tuesday and Thursday) next week.

Flanders and Swann tell us that one of the glories of mud is that there is nothing quite like it for cooling the blood. I had no need of these properties, as the rain and wind were more than sufficient. Even with gloves and the rain cover, I was slowly losing the use of my fingers by the end of the game. Fortunately, catastrophe was averted: I did not drop my glass at the Prescot Cables Beer Festival.

I was also keeping an eye on the bench. I have not been looking much in that direction this season, the team have been playing well enough for my interest not to wander. However, our Coach, Warren Jones, wanted a picture for the website (or at least webmaster Geoff did). I might have another go this weekend to see if I can get one with the management not looking so cold, although with the weather forecast, that might not be possible.

Dave Powell and Warren Jones watch Dave Dempsey take a throw in

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

The light takes its time to get brighter

The trouble with the light at this time of year is that unless the sun is fully out, it is not very strong, even when there is not much cloud. Still, at least the sun goes down 8 minutes later than at out last game, although the benefit of that depends on the referee not hanging about coming out for the second half.

This weekend saw Prescot Cables entertain Curzon Ashton. The corresponding fixture last season saw Curzon resting players for the last game of the season, knowing their playoff place and home advantage were secure. In mid season there are no such luxuries, with Curzon Ashton well within reach of the playoff places, and Prescot needing points to pull away from Goole, Ossett Albion and Garforth Town.

Ryan Gratton

The Met Office tell us last year was the 2nd wettest since records began. We do not currently have a major issue with fixture congestion, with only two games to be rearranged, which I suspect may have something to do with having a run of away games in November. Had we had more games scheduled at home, I suspect we would have had more postponements, as the pitch is definitely sufferng from the weather. In the remaining 17 weeks of the season, we have 12 home games still to play, and our tenants, AFC Liverpool, have 15. If there is one thing we can almost guarantee, there will be postponements in the next few weeks, either due to rain or ice, which should make for an interesting March and April. We can see some of the damage that the weather has done, undoing a lot of the hard work Doug Lace and Harry Molyneux have put in.

Danny Lambert

In the second half, the lighting advantage provided by the calendar was cancelled out by the half not starting until sunset at 4.07. I am not sure why, the first half started on time and did not have a significant amount of time added on. I therefore took up position on the Gasworks Side, opposite the stand. Fortunately I was not asked for evidence of my relation to any of the players: the players' fathers seemed to be extensively populating that side - I noticed Mr McCulloch, Mr Webb, Mr Fielding and Mr Rimmer of those I recognise from our side, and I was standing next to a gentleman who, judging by his directed encouragement, was probably the father of one of the Curzon Ashton players.

From this vantage point I did not capture the Prescot goal, a superb shot by Anthony Shinks from the touchline in front of the stand, under the second floodlight pylon. I was not expecting a shot from there, and would not have captured it anyway, given the light. Those on that side of the ground expressed the opinion that there was little doubt from the moment Anthony took it that it was going in.

Anthony Shinks

Every now and again you get a picture where a player is in just the right position to capture something behind him, as here, with Dave Owens unintentionally advertising the Cables 100 Club (renamed the 125 Club in our 125th anniversary season).

Dave Owens

I slightly cheekily included it in my selection for the Merseymart, as a free advert for our fundraising efforts on the back page would not go amiss. I was, however, not at all surprised when they passed it over for this one, to which they allocated 4 columns and about half the height of the page, so I am not complaining.

James McCulloch

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

Under the weather

The August Bank Holiday is a traditional time for clubs to play some of their more local games. This year, the bank holiday came after the the FA Cup Preliminary round, so there was the risk these fixtures would fall to Cup replays or postponements. The EvoStik League First Division North seemed to be particularly affected, partly due to waterlogged pitches on Saturday, with only three league games surviving.

Prescot Cables were at home to Cammell Laird after the exertions of the FA Cup game against AFC Liverpool at the weekend. The game survived a midday pitch inspection after heavy rain in the morning. Even so, conditions were still soft and slippery.

James McCulloch

Prescot were playing in the in normal amber home kit, as we did on Saturday against AFC Liverpool, so a mention is on order for Nick Arnold, who has taken over as kit man this season for having it all washed, dried and ready for use over a bank holiday weekend.

As with all local games, there was the usual collection of players who have played for us in the past.  Among them was John Riley, who I thought did not get the games his talents deserved when he was on our books, so it has been good to see him becoming established at Cammell Laird. Between him and Prescot's Davidson Banda, a player of similar pace and tenacity made for some good pictures.

Davidson Banda and John Riley

The conditions started dull and overcast, and went downhill from there, with the second half being completed in heavy rain.

When you have somewhere to shelter it makes for a good picture, but I do not envy the players being out in it.

Jack Webb

Cammell Laird made the best of the conditions with a couple of quick goals early in the second half, to which, despite a couple of shots on target, Prescot were unable to reply.

It was a disappointing result, against a team with whom, realistically, we are competing to ensure league survival, but it is still early in the season - the next test comes at the weekend with the first game against some industrial sized Yorkshirepersons at Ossett Town.

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