It went downhill when we played uphill

I have never been keen on travelling to Radcliffe Borough. I am quite happy once I get there, they are a cheerful bunch, but any journey crossing central Manchester is a bind. I worked at Salford Quays for 9 years - I enjoyed the job, and would still be there if they had not moved it somewhere cheaper, but the worst part of the day was passing through Manchester city centre and getting the tram, as there seemed to be a problem every day.

Add to this, a lot of students were going home this weekend. Railway companies look to maximize revenue, so I am surprised they do not have armies of staff at this time of year enforcing the National Rail Conditions of Carriage regarding luggage, and turning two or three excess bags per person into Red Star parcels. When I was a student, I did not even own that much stuff.

I got to the game 5 minutes late, having missed the bus, or more to the point the bus having missed me. In the best tradition of Manchester public transport, in Shudehill Bus Station, which is supposed to be one of their main interchanges, the bus that was not due for another 5 minutes came along and blocked the stand, so the 98 just drove past, leaving intending passengers to wait for the next one.

Ian Bennett

When I got in, Prescot were playing downhill. Radcliffe generally make the most of the slope when they win the toss by getting the visitors to play downhill in the first half. We were playing well, but, as has been the case in a few games, unable to convert this into goals. A fully fit goal scorer is at a premium, so if we find one, we would not have him for long, as a club with a larger budget would be able to make an offer, but at our end of the table it would make a big difference over a few games.

When I am cropping a picture, I usually include at least the featured player's head and feet, even at the expense of more space or background clutter. I supplied this picture of Chris Rimmer heading the ball to the Merseymart.

They chose to crop it a bit more like this (as usual, this is not their actual crop they used, this is my rough representation).

At this time of year, I usually take pictures in the second half from the side of the pitch, aiming for the opposite wing to the one I took in the first. On this occasion I did not have the chance to change sides: although Radcliffe's floodlights looked to be amongst the better ones in the division, there were a couple of bulbs out on the clubhouse side, leaving an unusual pattern of bright spots.

James McCulloch

I took up a position between the two dugouts. Radcliffe's choice of ends had the desired effect (for them), as we were unable to recapture the form from the first half, a reverse of something of a pattern for the season.

This position gives a good view of our own goalkeeper. I get a surprising number of shots of our goalkeeper in mid air, rather less include the ball.

Gary Spotswood

In my position, I was able to see the main incident of the second half, Joe Evans being sent off for what the referee described as inappropriate use of the elbow. I did not get a picture, but I am sure Joe's elbow was not raised, and certainly nowhere near their player's face, which he was clutching in a manner that may have been over the top for Gloucester having his eyes put out in King Lear. As  the players involved had their backs to the referee, the position of Joe's arm would have been obscured by the Radcliffe player. It surprised me that the referee did not consult her assistant, who was facing the incident, and did not look willing to offer an opinion, unless he was expecting it to be apparent from the lack of a flag.

Joe Evans

After a game at a ground with a sloping pitch, it was time for post match refreshment in a pub with a sloping floor. I am not imagining these slopes, I did not join the independently travelling supporters for a lunchtime drink: I did not want to travel until I knew the game was on, as my second choice would have been to watch Waterloo. The Marble Arch in Manchester has a slope, dropping 3 or 4 feet from the main door to the bar, and a more conventional couple of steps down to the dining room.

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

German tourists

It is fair to say Prescot does not attract a large number of tourists. Being not far from Liverpool, we occasionally get visitors who have come to watch a professional game, and want to take in a game at a local club as well. We had a visitor from Germany at our home game against New Mills at the weekend, although Michael was not really a tourist, more a returning regular, having watched Cables whilst studying for a PhD at the University of Liverpool. He and a number of other supporters went for a night out in St Helens after the game. I elected not to join them, but I believe they had a good time. I was hoping they would come back with a story of an elderly person, prompted by a German visitor in their midst, regaling them with tales of Bert Trautmann playing for St Helens Town.

He picked the right weekend to travel, as this was the first game on the pitch since the Liverpool Senior Cup, played in very wet conditions in the middle of November. The team were keen to put in a good performance to bounce back from a heavy defeat away to Skelmersdale United in the Doodson Sport Cup in midweek. Being out of all the cup competitions has a silver lining, as it will reduce the use of the pitch (and the electricity consumed by the floodlights) over the winter, that so often makes league cup games a net loss for clubs.

Joe Evans returns from injury

The conditions were those of a proper December day. We started with gloomy light, much of the play being at the other end of the pitch, and two goals conceded. Things started to improve towards half time, with a goal from Jonathon Bathurst at 43 minutes. I have commented before that he often gets goals that are difficult to capture. At least this time I captured Jon with the ball heading for the goal.

Jonathon Bathurst scores Prescot's goal

However, this made it in to the collection on the "goal is a goal" principle - if we look closely, we can see it is a little out of focus, and it did not make into the Merseymart partly for that reason, and partly because there is too much space between player and ball for a print photo.

By this time it was raining, and getting on for sunset, so the grain on the pictures from the low light gave quite a good reflection of the weather.

Jack Webb

It looked as though the rain would continue for the second half, so I put the cover on the camera before taking up a position on the gasworks side (opposite the stand) for what turned out to be a much better second half performance. I do not like using the cover if I do not absolutely have to, as it restricts the movement of my fingers, and the part that fits over the eyepiece has a habit of slipping, meaning I lose sight of the action at the most inconvenient moment.

So, when the rain appeared to be easing off, the cover came off too. Unfortunately, it had not stopped, but turned to a mist, that did not settle on my clothing, but left a wet coating on any hard surfaces, including my glasses, so between cleaning I was having trouble seeing anything, and the wind was blowing a fine mist on the front of the lens. Throw in the floodlights, and some of the pictures took a bit of darkening to recover.

Callum Hoctor

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