Can't see Shawe from here

I sometimes wonder whether it is a requirement of places called "View" that it is not actually possible to see the place described. The house next to my childhood home was called West View, something one could only obtain from the roof. The "Shawe" in the name of Trafford FC's Shawe View home is an historic manor house, now demolished. I do not think you would be able to see it from the ground even if it were still standing, although it looked as though they have performed some surgery on the trees that partly obscured the floodlights last season.

When Trafford chose the location for their ground (some of our supporters have been watching Cables for longer than Trafford have been in existence), they chose well, as it appears to be well drained. Their pitch was therefore in excellent condition for the time of year. Oddly, despite our players being used to a pitch that has drainage issues and the attendant problems, we seem to play better on a smooth surface. I remember a couple of seasons ago the then manager, Dave Ridler, said something to the effect that we have to adjust our game to play on our own pitch, which seemed an odd way of looking at it, as it is where we play 20 games more than anywhere else.

Anthony Shinks on Trafford's pristine turf

There is grass banking on three sides, which could form the foundation for terracing should league position and finances permit in future years. One is not supposed to go on the grass banking...

What these signs really mean with an average crowd is "We do not recommend you go on the grass banking, but we know you are sensible people, and can assess the risks for yourselves, so we therefore do not propose to stop you. However, if you do get it wrong and slip over and hurt yourself, do not come bleating to us." Of course you would need to be a bit more particular about keeping the banking clear if there is a large crowd.

This was the last outing of the season for the Cables Train Crew (anyone attending at Salford City next week will need to join the Cables Rail Replacement Bus Crew). I was the only non pharmacologist starting from Liverpool, the stopping pattern of the trains meaning Richie, our leader in beer and pub choices, went ahead to reconnoitre the territory. We settled on the excellent Steam House on Urmston Station, a good beer range (with the Deer Beer from Dunham Massey proving a hit), and buffet seating, ideal for those looking to eat, and comfortable sofas for the drinkers.

When I arrived, I passed Mr Webb chatting to his son Jack, who was not playing. At least, I would have given evidence to that effect should the need have arisen, until the teams came on to the field, and I realised Jack was in the team, and just as well too as events turned out.

Jack Webb

We started with the sun shining across the pitch at the start of the half, veering towards the goal we were defending as the half progressed. This gave us the usual problems of backlighting and luminous grass that we can see in the picture of Jack Webb above. Our first goal was, however, nice and clear.

Carl Furlong scores Prescot's first goal

The second half was much clearer with the light in the right direction, at least for the camera.

Dave Powell shields his eyes from the sun to watch Enzo Benn

There are quite a few grounds where no-one seems to have considered the weather when locating facilities like the dugouts and press box. At Trafford both managers and the announcer are looking in to the sun for the whole game. Having said that, I think Trafford is close enough to Manchester to be in its weather system. With hills on three sides and the opening facing in to the prevailing wind, a lot of cloud blows in, and can only get out again by depositing its contents, so looking in to the sun may be a rare problem.

With the scores level and Prescot looking solid in defence, it looked as though we would be taking away a point.

Phil Bannister, Dave Dempsey and Ged Murphy watch as Adam Reid grounds the ball

However, a feature of the team this year has been that they do not flag in the last few minutes, and injury time goal from Jack Webb saw an unexpected three points head our way.

Finally, it would be churlish not to extend this column's congratulations to United on winning the title. That is of course Skelmersdale United, our local rivals for many years, who have won the First Division North title after missing out in the playoffs in the last couple of seasons.

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