Orange mist

When I last went to watch Prescot Cables play away at Clitheroe a couple of years ago, I was looking forward to the views from the castle. Unfortunately, the advertised views were unavailable, due to thick fog. On this occasion, I avoided disappointment, managing my expectations using the Met Office weather forecast pages, which told me there would be more fog, so there was little point making the trip to the top of the hill. Fortunately, the New Inn was available for such eventualities.

Clitheroe Castle

The fog had mostly cleared by kick off, but our supporters generated some of their own. I had been concerned when one supporter said he had obtained some marine distress flares - I had visions of the scenes you see in Germany and Italy, but with supporters being hosed down by the fire brigade as a precaution. I need not have worried, as they were the type that does not give off flames, only smoke. If I were in distress in a marine environment, I would want to make sure the rescue services were in sight before letting one off rather than expecting them to be visible at a distance. I also understand they are lit with a match, which should be interesting in 10' high waves.

"Tricky Robo" makes some smoke - the Clitheroe steward mistook him for an Australian

Unfortunately, the wind was a bit gusty at ground level, so, rather than gently wafting around the ground, most of the smoke blew over the wall.

The game got under way in fairly low light, unlike our recent trips to Yorkshire, and more like we would expect in November. Clitheroe have three floodlight pylons on each side. After about 15 minutes, they switched on the lights on one pylon on each side to add to the natural light, which I have never seen in a match before.

Danny Lambert (Prescot) and Daley Woods (Clitheroe)

Readers with good memories will recognise the Clitheroe player chasing Danny Lambert as Daley Woods, who made a few appearances at the beginning of the 2009-10 season. He left to play for Formby in the North West Counties League, and judging from the match reports seems to have become established at Clitheroe.

The ground has some cover on all 4 sides, allowing the photographer to stay under cover for a range of vantage points, which was handy later when the promised rain arrived. They also have a pitch that slopes from side to side. We can use this as an example of how to use background features to check your picture is level, and make adjustments in cropping if you were holding the camera at an angle. Take this picture of Jack Booth. Here is how it came off the camera, adjusted for lighting.

We can see the slope of the pitch in the background, so levelling the shot with the ground will not work. We can see two fences, one concrete, and behind it a wooden one (best seen if you click on the photo to enlarge). We can see the disadvantage of the wooden fence, these will often slope with the land. The concrete fence, however, is a lot more useful - if this type of fence is not built with the posts vertical and the concrete panels horizontal, the weight of the fence will probably pull it over, so we can usually rely on them, and I have done so here.

In the background of the large picture we can see something else that is useful for lining up - a house. These can usually be relied on to have the walls vertical and the windows horizontal, apart from older houses that have settled into odd shapes over the years. When I moved in to my house, an elderly neighbour who had lived in the street for 50 years advised me not to try striped wallpaper, as they were built 100 years ago on clinker foundations, and the settlement meant I would never be able to line up the paper with all the edges.

One of the principles of this blog is "pies before pictures". Last season, one of our supporters, Richie, as well as finding excellent real ale pubs, ran an informal pie league. Anyone seen eating a pie could expect to be approached to rate filling, pastry, temperature and value for money. It was the last that clinched the title for Clitheroe, ahead of the rather expensive Farsley, with a large tasty pie, excellent gravy and peas for a reasonable £2.20.

Over the years, our teams have, on average, been a bit on the small side: we do not have a pool of industrial sized Yorkshirepersons from which to draw players. This season we have had Chris Rimmer providing a welcome physical presence in defence, and when called upon, further forward. We are not accustomed to seeing one of our players towering over the opposition.

Chris Rimmer uses his height advantage

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

Getting the colours right

We have been fortunate this year with the weather for Prescot Cables' trips to Yorkshire. The most recent, this weekend at Ossett Albion was another such day, grey and wet in Liverpool, but clearing once the train was through the Standedge Tunnel. That part of the journey feels like crossing into Yorkshire: in local government terms it is, although the historic boundary is some miles back, near the Rising Sun in Mossley.

Albion have the more picturesque of the two grounds in Ossett. Their home, in the attractively named Dimple Wells Road, is next to the cricket ground, with views (when the mist stays away) across to Emley Moor and its television transmitter.

Ossett Albion - great television reception

When Ossett Albion announced their shirt sponsorship by the Ossett Brewery, they marketed the Tap as a sort of official away supporters' pub. In the circumstances, it would have been rude not to frequent it, but only after an excellent bacon, black pudding and egg toasted ciabatta (it is called fusion food), washed down with a pint of the excellent Old Slug (no prizes for guessing it is a porter) in the Brewer's Pride.

I was speaking at half time to a chap who was surprised to find that, although I was wearing a yellow and black scarf, I did not support the home team, and was pleased at the coincidence that we play at home in those colours. When you support a team that plays in red or blue, you are familiar with the opposition wearing "your" colour. Yellow or amber is less common, Ossett Albion are the only club in our division who wear the same shade as us, so my first thought was to look at the amber shirts, and think "That's not Ged Murphy", and "Never seen him before", as the teams came out.

Player Assistant Manager Ged Murphy - in the away kit

Once I was focusing on the correct players, we started with low sun shining across the pitch, with the stand and some trees casting a strong shadow. This has been a familiar theme in the last few posts, which I would not have expected at the beginning of the month.

James McCulloch casts a shadow

I even got about 10 minutes of shooting with the sports mode, before the shutter speeds dropped, and I had to go to shutter priority starting at 1/320s. As the sun dropped, the light became colder and whiter.

Jack Booth

A couple of years ago, on a previous visit by Prescot, the BBC shot some scenes for The Making of Arthur, a programme by the Yorkshire writer Simon Armitage about the Arthurian legend. I think Ossett was chosen because it is near one possible site for the Battle of Brunanburh in 937, but on that occasion our supporters were making the noise the film makers were looking for, especially Rod, our regular bugler. Ossett Albion supporters seem to have taken inspiration, as this time they had a group of noisily enthusiastic supporters behind the goal with a couple of instruments. They stayed behind their own goalkeeper for the second half, which seemed odd - back in the Rabble days at Dulwich Hamlet we used to call that a vote of confidence...

Albion have a straightforward floodlight arrangement with 4 pylons on each side, so it was not difficult to find a suitable place to stand, starting the half behind the goal whilst there was still some daylight ...

Callum Hoctor

... and moving to the side after about 15 minutes.

Joe Shelmerdine passes to Danny Lambert

We were disappointed not to score, but a clean sheet meant we came away with a point - and, just as importantly, as Ossett Albion are in the same half of the table as us, they only came away with one and not three.

After some leisurely post match refreshment in the Tap, it was back to Dewsbury, where my friend Nick works at the station, and was surprised to see me passing through. He was encouraging a group of drunks to leave at the time - the Transpennine Rail Ale Trail has rather outgrown its target market, particularly on Saturdays, and groups regarding it as an ordinary pub crawl are causing some problems for the railway and the Police.

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

The maîtres d'hôtel know me well and let me sign the bill

"Adult?" asked the gate man as my friend Christian went through ahead of me. I met Christian 20 years ago, as part of a young and noisy support to be found behind the goal Dulwich Hamlet were attacking, known to all as "the rabble". Now in his thirties, he has been fortunate to retain a youthful appearance, augmented with a neatly trimmed greying beard, so we were unsure whether he was being invited to consider applying for a discount as a young person or senior citizen.

There are a couple of clubs where I thought of a line from a poem as a title for a post, and work through for more surreal titles when I visit again. So Warrington Town gets Under Milk Wood, and Burgess Hill Town gets John Betjeman's Executive with its reference to every roadside hostelry from here to Burgess Hill. For the avoidance of doubt, I am not known to any maîtres d'hôtel, and the only bit of the bill I get to sign is where it says "please charge my card".

I attended Dulwich Hamlet's last game of last season at Burgess Hill, in which we were seeking to secure promotion, and they to avoid relegation. They were successful, we were not, so, by coincidence, my first Dulwich game of this season was at the same location. As last year, this was late in the season: having steered clear of London during the Olympics, a couple of things kept me away for longer. I think we are now allowed to use the words London and Olympics in the same blog post, and the organising committee have not copyrighted them for all eternity, in the same way the Canadians can sing their national anthem after the Vancouver Winter Games let go of the words "glorious and free".

Peter Adeniyi

The game started in the conditions of a proper autumn day, overcast and having rained earlier. Finding the sports mode was offering speeds that were too slow, I went to shutter priority. Both sides had a substantial amount of dark colour in their kit. Indeed, in some competitions, Dulwich's dark blue and Burgess Hill's black would be considered a clash of socks, hindering the referee in identifying whose feet were in which position in a tackle.

Since my last visit, Burgess Hill have changed their main colour from yellow to green, not a choice I would have made in a ground bordered on two sides with conifers, I can see players blending in to the background on a wet Saturday afternoon in January.

The Burgess Hill kit, sported by an unnamed player - numbers on the front, you know it makes sense

It takes about 5 or 6 appearances for me to recognise players, so being an irregular attender at Dulwich games, I have the best chance with those who have been in the team for the last couple of years, like Nyren Clunis, here being closely watched by Mishi and Liam from the committee.

There are some new players I can recognise quickly, as they are popular with the terraces. One such is Erhun Öztümer, who has joined us on returning home to London after playing professionally in Turkey. Recognition is aided by his being our penalty taker: reports suggest we have been good at drawing defenders into committing fouls in the penalty area. Most people think he will be snapped up by a club at a higher level before long, but are enjoying his play, and goals, whilst he is with us.

Erhun Öztümer

By the second half, the clouds had cleared, giving a fine autumn sunset on the deciduous trees behind the conifers.

Once the sun had gone down, I did not get many shots, as Burgess Hill have an arrangement of lights with two pylons along each side (not on the corners). This is the same arrangement as Warrington Town, and, although the light did seem a bit brighter than at Warrington, it was still even without the bright spots that are helpful for those of us working with consumer kit.

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

Senior moments

The main attraction of the Liverpool Senior Cup to a club like Prescot Cables was drawing Liverpool or Everton at home, which would attract a crowd often over 1000, and much needed revenue. With less than 20 clubs in the competition, this was a realistic prospect.

The likelihood was halved last year, when Liverpool pulled out of the competition that provided their first silverware in 1893 in favour of a European youth tournament. Not that it stopped some morale boosting heroics, with the lads beating Skelmersdale United, losing to Southport on penalties, being reinstated as Southport fielded an ineligible player, and taking the game against Tranmere Rovers to penalties at Prenton Park.

Sadly there was to be no repeat this year when we entertained Skelmersdale United. I was surprised the game was taking place at all, as rain during the afternoon, falling on an already wet pitch, had made the conditions difficult. Indeed, a League game may have been postponed, but as a County Cup game, all parties would have been keen to get the game out of the way.

Steve Kelly

The game saw a welcome start in defence for Steve Kelly, after a long layoff due to injury.

A home game against Skelmersdale United is something with which this column is very familiar, so there were no unusual challenges. The conditions were never going to make for a classic game, or for that matter classic photos, although I was able to get a reasonable slideshow.

Given that some of the wetter areas of the pitch were, as was only to be expected, in the goal areas, both goalkeepers, or at least their shirts, seemed to remain remarkably free of mud.

Andy Moor

Davidson Banda makes a run towards goal

That we are able to play at all on a pich that has always had difficult underlying ground is a tribute to the hard work put in by Doug Lace, our Club Secretary and Groundsman, and those who assist him. Doug was recently voted Knowsley Council's Sports Volunteer of the Year, a thoroughly well deserved award.

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

Wakey Wakey

Prescot Cables' trips to Yorkshire for the county's excellent real ales and, hopefully, a point or three, seem to be coming thick and fast. The public houses of Goole, Ossett and Garforth have taken revenue from the small but select band of Cables public transport users. Well, not Garforth, that was just me, and I took my refreshment in Leeds.

The rail travelling supporters watch Luke Edwards take a high ball

Last weekend was the turn of Wakefield, travelling out via Sheffield, where we learnt the Sheffield Tap's ban (I assume on Police advice) on football shirts extends to bar scarves and Cornish rugby union shirts. Fortunately I had a plain t-shirt underneath, and a bag for the offending items. They could have been challenging my right to wear the latter garment: I claim through my grandmother, who I know was born somewhere near the Tamar, but, as she died before I was born, I have never completely established which side.

After this, it was off to Wakefield, and the Bull & Fairhouse, the tap for the Great Heck Brewery, a couple of junctions along the M62. My first pint was chosen for the name.

Well, it would have been rude not to.

Wakefield continue their peripatetic existence, being back at Belle Vue, in the town of their name, if not their foundation. Spectators could access all sides, often not the case when a ground belonging to a larger club in another sport is used for a game at our level.

Jonathon Bathurst - play is overlooked by the bar

The first half presented a lighting challenge - low winter sun, behind three or four terraced streets giving an uneven shadow, and against a reflective bright blue base to the main stand. At this time of year, I try to stand in the sun for some warmth, but this time it was too bright, so I had to wrap up and take to the shade. The things I do for a picture.

Davidson Banda

Access to the toilets was through the bar. This is a problem on a cold day: taking the camera into a warm bar, full of people breathing (I would be less than keen to go in if they were not) is a recipe for condensation, the inside of the lens will steam up like a pair of glasses, but will not clear as quickly, affecting the pictures for the second half, and, in extreme cases, damaging the equipment. I was saved from having to put it in the bag by Jack Webb's father kindly, if nervously, agreeing to hold the camera while I went inside.

Jack Webb

A number of clubs in the lower half of our division, including us, have a better record away than at home. Wakefield are the most extreme, with near play off form away, and yet to gain a point at home. There was a risk this would be reversed when Wakefield scored, but as the second half wore on, they were clearly flagging. I did not capture either of Prescot's goals, although I caught Danny Lambert celebrating his.

Danny Lambert celebrates scoring

I thought the quality of the image may not have been sufficient for print. I think the Echo may have agreed, as they went for one that looks spectacular instead: this shot of a cross by Anthony Shinks.

Anthony Shinks

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