Into the spiders' web

You often see pictures from places like India of trains that seem to have as many people outside as there must be inside. One of the most alarming I have seen was of people sitting on the roof ... of an electric train.

We do not see such scenes in England, but when I travel across the Pennines at the weekend, I am convinced that is only because there is nothing outside on which to cling. Trains are at half their weekday length, for what feels like nine tenths of the demand. Still, starting a journey in Liverpool makes it more likely I will get a seat, and a sunny day in the Hope Valley, on the way to Goole AFC, gave views of dry stone walls, farm animals in the fields, and a village football pitch, the best way to describe its slope being that it is not as vertiginous as the hill behind it.

Prescot Captain James McCulloch keeps the ball from Goole's Captain

There seemed to be an exceptional number of spiders active in the ground. Not big daddy long legs, but the small ones that quietly wrap you in silk before you know they are there. I spent much of the game in between frames removing threads from my face, clothing and lenses, often with an attendant spider furiously climbing up. There were one or two insects that may have made too much of a meal for the spiders - this little chap seemed to quite like my jacket.

A forest bug (I think)

I removed it quite gingerly, although looking it up later, I think it eats dead wood, and was somewhat out of its normal territory, this end of the traditional West Riding (now put in with the East Riding for local government purposes) not being particularly forested. Indeed, the most prominent structures for some miles around were the water towers for the docks, behind the main stand.

The ground itself had a running track, only 4 lanes, apart from in the home straight, where there were 6. Unfortunately, given the direction of the sun, the home straight was the best vantage point.

 

When I take pictures from the side of the pitch, I take more frames than from behind the goal. Not that I have any more difficulty choosing those to process, I find getting a good shot is a bit more hit and miss.

A lot of the pictures have the players with their back to me, which does not necessarily preclude them coming out as a good image.

Luke Edwards

We also see a lot more of the opposition goalkeeper facing the camera ...

The Goole keeper kicks the ball away from Jonathon Bathurst

... and it is a good position to get a few decent shots of our own goalkeeper.

Xavier Parisi

It is also nearer to the throw ins.

Joe Fielding

I still have not, however, figured out the best position to be sure of getting some decent pictures of central defence, short of going behind our goal, which just does not seem right somehow.

 

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