Placing the ball

Having gained a point from local rivals Warrington Town at the weekend, Prescot Cables entertained Skelmersdale United in midweek, in a game postponed from New Year's Day. Like Warrington's Shaun Reid, Tommy Lawson left us to take charge at Skelmersdale, but the similarity ends there, as Tommy took us to the North West Counties League Cup and League Championship first.

Adam Reid

This was our fourth game against Skelmersdale this season, and none have been profitable on the field. As one was in the Liverpool Senior Cup on a wet night and left the pitch unusable for a month, I suspect it was far from profitable off it too. This was the first evening game I have attended since then. The the only other opportunity I had to do so was away at Bamber Bridge, which I chose to miss, as I would have had to leave.before the end to get the last train home, which, along with leaving home before the result of a pitch inspection, is my main reason for missing away games.

As I discuss frequently in these pages, taking pictures with consumer kit under floodlights involves compromises. Having said that, newer SLR cameras, such as the Nikon D5100 and D5200, offer an ISO range up to 6400, expandable to 25600, two steps up from my D5000's 3200 expandable to 6400, so when the time comes to upgrade, the low light performance should be even better. The compromise extends to whether to include a picture in the collection, such as this one.

We can clearly see this is Liam Hollett, which is probably an essential prerequisite. However, it is a little blurred, and I would probably not have included it if Liam had been playing a ball at his feet, but getting a foot to a ball at waist height gives it the interest to get into the slideshow.

Watching both football and rugby, I have noticed an odd difference, in the way players place the ball for a free kick or penalty. Here is Anthony Shinks on Tuesday.

Here, by contrast, is Alex Davies, playing for Waterloo at the time I took the picture in 2008, but now playing in the Premiership for London Welsh. It is one of my earlier efforts, and still one of my favourite photos. We can also use it to remind us of a warmer day.

Anthony is bending his back, like almost all footballers. Alex is bending his knees like the ergonomics people tell you - with some justification, I was once hobbling around for a few days after putting out the bit where your back becomes your backside picking up a telephone box. Not one of those red Giles Gilbert Scott affairs, but a cardboard box with a desk telephone in, weighing about the same as a football. I do not recall seeing a rugby player doing it any other way. Placing a rugby ball is a more precise operation, as the angle matters, either on the tee, or a few years ago in a dent made in the ground with the boot.

As is usual with these fixtures, we were watching former players playing for the opposition, in this case Rob McIntosh and Dale Wright. I have always enjoyed watching Rob play, and he and Dale have always conducted themselves impeccably visiting their former club. However, when he was a bit younger and playing for us, I had trouble not depicting Rob as all arms and legs. It is a bit easier these days, but the ball does not always co-operate.

Rob McIntosh meets René Magritte

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