Bicycle races are coming your way

Last week, Prescot, which features regularly in these pages, played host to the Time Trial stage of the Tour of Britain. It is not the first time the town has hosted the Tour, with a stage having finished at Knowsley Safari Park a couple of years ago. I did not watch on that occasion, as it seemed a lot of effort for the less than even possibility of one good photo of the peloton, or waiting for hours to get a good spot for the finish, only to find an official or press photographer in front of me at the key moment.

The time trial is a different matter, a 10 mile course from the Safari Park, through Prescot and Knowsley Village, with riders starting at one minute intervals over two hours. So, it was easy to find a spot with an unobstructed view and experiment with the best locations and techniques. For a sport I had never tried photographing before, I was quickly happy with the results, with my fifth frame of the day making it in to the collection.

Jim Songezo (South Africa, MTN Qhubeka)

For about three miles, from the edge of the town and along Knowsley Lane, the course went in both directions along the same road, so there were shots to be had of riders passing in opposite directions.

Roman van Uden (New Zealand, Node 4 Giordana, foreground) passes Jimmy Engoulvent (France, Sojasun)

As this is a time trial, not many riders pass each other in the same direction. However, as the inbound side was 3km from the end of the course, it was possible to have made up the minute on the rider in front.

Matthias Krizek (Austria, Cannondale) overtakes Dean Downing (UK, Madison Genesis)

You may think a cycle race is just cyclists, racing, but there is more on the road than that. Each rider is preceded by a motorcycle to ensure the road is clear (spectators and passing members of the public can cross between competitors). Most of the motorcyclists were Police Officers, so, as costs are billed to the Tour, it probably makes a small contribution to the Police budget. The riders are also followed by a support vehicle carrying the Prime Minister's shoes spare cycles for use in the event of an accident or a fault with a machine. I am not sure what happens if one rider overtakes another, as there is definitely no room for the support vehicles to overtake.

Some riders were followed by a motorcycle with a camera crew, although I do not know what use the resulting film will be, apart from for anatomy students studying the working of the muscles in the legs and backside.

Wouter Sybrandy (Netherlands, IG Sigma) receives the attention of the video camera

The day was damp, with spells of moderate rain, with those starting about half an hour in to the event getting the wettest of the weather.

Will Stephenson (UK, Rapha Condor JLT)

During the race, I made my way towards the town, taking me to the main road, and opportunities for cornering shots as the riders took the roundabouts.

Alistair Slater (UK, Great Britain)

There were more spectators here, some offering enthusiastic support to the riders ...

Sebastien Reichenbach (Switzerland, IAM)

.. and some who looked put out that they were not allowed to join in.

"I could be chasing this lot!"

I had not thought to download the start order to take with me, although it was useful for subsequently captioning the pictures. Not knowing who was coming round the corner, I missed some better known competitors - Mark Cavendish whizzed past as I was checking my exposures. However, I did not miss Sir Bradders, who did not err, winning the stage and going on to win the Tour.

Sir Bradley Wiggins (UK, Sky)

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

All human life was there

Prescot Cables' party for the trip to Bamber Bridge was somewhat depleted by work commitments. One of the Train Crew was testing pharmaceuticals in a top secret tunnel under the Swiss Alps, and another was offered a decent rate for overtime. From the players, Sean Myler was on an unavoidable training course with work: we have all been on those, and in many cases would rather they had been avoidable. Actually, I made the tunnel up, but the rest is true enough. So, it was just Richie, our leader in beer and pub choices, and I who met at Preston. I got there on a train going to Blackpool: a hen party dressed as Brownies joined the train at Wigan, doubtless keeping the new promise to be true to themselves.

The Black Horse had kept its rooms and divisions from the Victorian era. We took seats in the Smoke Room (for our most upmarket Victorians, with a fireplace and a door to separate it from the bar) to the sounds of an Australian stag party, complete with a groom with ball and chain, coming from the next room. Unfortunately, this was a Robinsons house, not a favourite brewery for either of us. The Market Tavern, with beers from Hart and Bowland, has also kept its historic interior, with a couple of comfortable booths, from which we were able to watch discreetly as the elderly lady in the corner got up to dance to Gangnam Style on the jukebox.

The strangeness continued on arrival at the ground, with the home physio treating an elderly spectator, who appeared to have been hit by a ball in the pre match warm up. An ambulance was called as a precaution, but fortunately left after giving the gentleman a check up.

The programme had a striking cover. I am almost paranoid about including the ball and the player from head to toe (apart from for portraits), but this works well.

I took up position behind the goal we were attacking, getting some decent shots, including Connor McCarthy going for the ball with the goalkeeper, Stuart Barton.

The end of the ground away from the clubhouse has cover, but is not the most comfortable place for photography, as there is a low wall with advertising boards forming a higher barrier, so there is nowhere to lean comfortably. I therefore moved to the the side, in line with the edge of the penalty area. This position gives a clearer view of our own goalkeeper in action.

Nick Culkin

Being at the side of the pitch meant I was right in line with the controversial incident from the first half. Connor McCarthy was brought down, but was it a penalty, or a free kick, as the referee adjudged?

It is not often I get quite such a clear picture of a foul, but I think the referee got it right, the trip is outside the area. When I looked at the picture on the small screen on the camera, I took the other view, looking at the position of Connor's torso, rather than his feet. I think the divot from the encounter above may have added to the impression that the foul was inside the area.

The sun started to shine towards the end of the first half, with the usual backlighting effects.

Jonathon Lynch

Play was more even in the second half. With Bamber Bridge having scored early in the half and with 10 minutes to go, Mike Smith was fouled 25 yards out.

Connor McCarthy scored directly from the free kick. They replied five minutes later, and it looked as though that would be the final score, until the final minute of injury time, when Enzo Benn put the ball away in a traditional goalmouth scramble.

Enzo Benn

The picture of the day is from Bamber Bridge's Facebook page, by Stefan Willoughby.

Team captain James McCulloch is urging everyone to cut short their celebrations to use the remaining minute or so to try and score another goal and take home all three points. As it happened, the referee blew for time almost immediately after the kick off, but it is the spirit that makes this team so enjoyable to watch.

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

Sports jacket weather

On the way to the game last week I had some random thoughts about the utility of the sports jacket. Some will know that I am rarely seen out of such a garment, wearable with anything from jeans and t-shirt to collar and tie, and with plenty of pockets for programmes, golden goal tickets, lens caps, and the other paraphernalia of the match day photographer. I thought of finding a picture of a match official of the 1950s so attired, but I subsequently found they usually wore blazers, so I had to make do with yours truly, snapping a Dulwich Hamlet Supporters' game on a warm, sunny morning in ... er ... November.

Ideal wear for photographing sport. Photo by Tony Squires, crop by me

On that occasion, I was talking to Mishi, a member of the Supporters' Team and Club Committee, and of the Grounds for Concern blog, which he has not had time to update for a while, but which has meticulously detailed views of an impressive range of grounds. The conversation went something like this:-

"Call me old fashioned ..."
"You're old fashioned Mish."
"Well, what about you - sports jackets and rugby shirts, how bloody old fashioned is that?"

Well, I never said I was not ...

Prescot Cables' were at home last weekend to Buxton in the First Qualifying Round of the FA Cup. The structure of the draw means it is unlikely that a club starting in the Preliminary Round will make it to a shot at glory in the First Round Proper where the Football League clubs come in, but the prize fund provides a welcome addition to club funds for the winners of each round.

Good weather in September means the sun is low in the sky, and at Prescot that means shadows from the side, particularly in the first half, when we were attacking the Safari Park End. A lot of tweaking of the light was required on the computer, although half in light, half in shadow can make for a good picture

Jonathon Lynch

Sometimes the players are not only half in light, half in shadow, but light is reflected off the grass, and the advertising boards are in shadow.

Mike Smith competes with Buxton's Neil Stevens, with James McCulloch ready to collect the stray ball ...

... but Mike is first back on his feet (and back in the light)

The lighting was much better in the second half, with most of the action front lit.

Ged Murphy goes for a header with Buxton's Jack Broadhead

This meant that, unusually, for the slideshow I used more pictures (by two) from the second half than the first. The selection is a mixture of pictures of competition for the ball, and individual shots that the players like for showing to friends and family and profile pictures on sites like Facebook and Twitter. Normally, for the latter I use the first decent shots I come to, so I get a lot of what I need from the first half.

Even the goal net caught the sun for a pronounced light effect.

Rob Doran and Buxton's Charlie Johnson

Buxton, being in the Premier Division, were the favourites, and the only goal of the game came for them in the 76th minute. My view was obstructed, but this was originally recorded as an own goal from Antony Shinks, although the record was subsequently updated to correctly credit the latter. It is quite clear on Buxton's video (at about 14 minutes) that Antony did not have contact with the ball, but I can see how it may have looked more uncertain from some angles.

Antony Shinks and Leon Osborne in the first half

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

Take the late train to Clarksville

I am on to about my fifth sporting trip to Lancaster, and I have failed to reach the town at the time I intended on any of them. Although there are two trains an hour between Wigan and Lancaster, they are 10 minutes apart, and seem to accumulate the same delays. I therefore allowed extra time on this occasion to get some pictures of the town in the evening light and a meal at the excellent White Cross.

Lancaster City give potential punters the opportunity to get in from whatever direction they come, with turnstiles in three corners of the ground. This allows for segregation, although I was surprised to find all three open for our visit.

At this time of year, we still have natural light at the beginning of the game, with the Met Office app telling us sunset was four minutes before kick off, although the referee started a couple of minutes early. He was clearly not expecting a shot along the ground: when I took up position behind the goal, with the game in progress, a home official was walking round with a couple of extra spikes to fix down the goal net. One would have thought that either the net was satisfactorily fixed, or it needed to be rectified before we started. The floodlights went on a couple of minutes before the start, but the natural light with a clear sky was more than sufficient whilst they warmed up.

Weekday evening games, especially away, are often a chance for new players, as some regular players will have work commitments.

Jonathan Lynch

The floodlights proved to be amongst the best in the Division. There are four pylons on each side, with three heads each of the end pylons, and two on the middle, which does not quite fit my little diagrams. Half an hour in, I was still getting good results from the end of the pitch with the shutter speed at 1/250s.

Sean Myler

I then moved round to the side, where it seemed gloomy on the terrace. This may be an indication that the lights work as they should, casting light on the pitch with minimal spillage to surrounding areas: efficient, and good for neighbourly relations in a residential area.

In the second half, I stood by the tea bar and toilet block, towards the end of one side of the ground. Results were surprisingly clear in the middle of the pitch ...

Phil Bannister and an unnamed Lancaster player. Numbers on the front of shirts need to catch on!

... and around the goal.

Antony Shinks takes a goal kick for Nick Culkin

On my side of the pitch, some results were almost good enough to use straight off the camera.

John Beattie - picture cropped, but with no lighting adjustment

The finished result, with shadows ligthened

I spent most of the rest of the game between the two dugouts, a vantage point I almost never take in daylight, as there are coaching staff, substitutes and an assistant referee legitimately getting in the way, but in the evening, the available light can make up for it.

Mike Smith takes a free kick

As for the result, the report in the Lancaster Guardian referred to our side being difficult to break down, and having dangerous attacking players, which I think is a fair assessment, but Lancaster were the better team on the night and their 2-0 win was probably a fair result.

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

Putting the score in words

I often think of tangential material for these posts on the way to the game. This is sometimes overtaken by events, and heads to the back burner. So, my musings on my way to Prescot Cables' game at home to New Mills on the subject of sports jackets being used for sport, illustrated by a picture of a match official so attired, will have to wait until next time the weather is changeable with a hint of autumn, but not cold enough for a coat. So, that is next week's post sorted.

An early observation was that New Mills' number 5 bore a passing resemblance, in hair at least, to the Entertainments Secretary at Liverpool University in 1987.

Other considerations were soon overtaken by seven of what George Green, the football artist of the Liverpool Echo in the 1930s called "jolly little goals".

Looking at New Mills' form, we should not have been surprised at a high score: they lost 5-0 at Cammell Laird, but were also able to score, having won 5-4 at Kendal. It looked as though we might be on the receiving end of the visitors' scoring abilities when they went ahead after 9 minutes. Connor McCarthy levelled the scores after 26 minutes.

When the player takes a shot from the edge of the penalty area, and you are standing behind the goal, you never get the ideal combination of player, goal and ball, so if you were not there, you will have to take my word for it that he was shooting for goal.

Connor scored a second before half time: here I could have done with capturing the whole of New Mills' goalkeeper Peter Collinge rather than just and arm and a leg.

So, the second half began with an unexceptional score line, which was augmented within a minute by another goal from the edge of the area by Rob Doran. In this case I captured a bit more of the goalkeeper.

Seconds after the restart, Rob Doran again posed a threat, with Peter Collinge mistiming his attempt to deal with it...

... leaving the way open for Connor McCarthy to complete his hat trick.

With the ball heading to the open net, I had lowered the camera, so did not capture Connor's cheeky dive to help the ball in with his head. I am fairly traditional when it comes to goal celebrations, the time for them is when the ball is in the net, but the fact Connor was able to celebrate with impunity probably served to demoralise the New Mills defence still further.

I have to admit to missing goal number five, which is not something I get the chance to say very often, but I got another chance when Isaac Kusoloka came on for Carl Furlong, who had done an excellent job, and had been unlucky not to add to the score himself.

Carl Furlong

No sooner had Isaac joined the fray than he produced one of his aerial kicks in front of goal. At the time of writing, the time of Isaac's goal is listed on the league website as 90 minutes, suggesting it was the seventh goal, when it was the sixth, closer to 70 minutes.

Then there was a question I have never had to consider before. The scorer of a hat trick is traditionally awarded the match ball (probably in most cases a clean one that has not been kicked around) to commemorate the occasion. So, given that the game is played, nominally at least, with one ball, what does the scorer of a second hat trick get?

The question was broached by Rob Doran with a goal that looked remarkably similar to his first.

This result will have been a great boost to team morale: the New Mills defence did have a particularly bad day at the office, but our team was clinical enough to take advantage of it, and our defence kept a potentially high scoring New Mills team at bay.

Frank, one of our Train Crew members (or Air Crew, he works in aviation) came to the game suited and booted between the ceremony and reception of a friend's wedding. George Green's "jolly little goals" were from another high scoring game, a 10-0 win against Harrowby in the FA Cup in 1935. The person coming from a wedding on that occasion played a larger role in both events - the groom was Horace Whalley, Cables' goalkeeper.

Finally, I texted the score to my friend Roger: it seemed appropriate to follow the practice of the old teleprinter with a high score and give it as "Prescot Cables 7 (seven) New Mills 1". These days do not come round often, the last time we scored as many was in a 9-0 win against Flixton in 2002-3. Having enjoyed the day, the priority is in midweek away to Lancaster City who have made a good start to the season, and a testing FA Cup game at home to Buxton at the weekend.

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

Bear necessities

Prescot Cables' visitors for the Preliminary Round of the FA Cup were Congleton Town, who we visited in the First Qualifying Round in 2008. We were joined on that occasion by a group of students, who made plenty of noise, including a scurrilous song about which of our players Victoria may have in mind when spending time with David. They subsequently joined us to liven up a few other occasions in an otherwise depressing season.

Making the crowd look bigger than it was at Congleton in 2008

Congleton's kit was emblazoned with their nickname of the Bears, a reference much used in the town by organisations like the Beartown Brewery, and the Beartown Bus service. It comes from the crueler times of the 1620s, when the town were not getting big enough crowds for bear baiting, so they sold their Bible (or raided the Bible fund) to buy a more aggressive bear. The revenue from the crowds attracted by the new bear paid for a bigger and better Bible. What Ye Local Governmente Standardes Boarde made of it is not recorded, and I believe the Bible takes a dim view as well.

Sean Myler, pursued by a Bear

In the last couple of posts my attention has been drawn by the opposition goalkeeper (the player of whom I have the closest and most uninterrupted view), and the trend continued this week. In goal for Congleton was Martin Pearson, who always impressed me with a mixture of physical presence and agility over the couple of seasons he was playing against us for Mossley.

Martin Pearson chases down a shot from Connor McCarthy

I was concerned we may be without the players we have on loan, as agreements often prohibit playing for the borrowing club in cup games, as it will prevent them playing for the loaning club in later rounds. I need not have worried, our players from AFC Fylde, Phil Bannister and Isaac Kusoloka, were both in the starting lineup.

Phil Bannister

For the photos, Isaac was a welcome addition. Football is not like athletics, where participants move in a limited area, so you can prepare and plan short bursts of shooting: in football, you need to keep the camera tracking the action. Isaac is one of the more agile players when it comes to taking kicks in the air, and sometimes you get one of those pictures where everything comes together. I thought this was my best picture of the day, but the Merseymart prefer competitive action shots, so they used the picture of Connor McCarthy and Martin Pearson above.

Isaac Kusaloka

Making a welcome return in defence was club vice-captain Antony Shinks, starting his season after missing the initial games through injury.

Antony Shinks

Despite some good attacking play, we were unable to get anything in the net - fortunately we also kept a clean sheet, so the game went to a replay at Congleton. I was not able to attend the replay, but Prescot won with a goal from Sean Myler.

Finally, Warren Jones, one of our coaches, is leaving to become Assistant Manager at Atherton Laburnum Rovers. Warren has been part of a coaching team that has introduced a great team spirit and willingness to play to the final whistle that has been worth a few points over the last year. This blog wishes him well in his future endeavours.

Warren Jones with Dave Powell. He will need to take Dave's hat with him, it's cold in Atherton.

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

One hump or two?

After Prescot Cables' game against Cammell Laird on August Bank Holiday the question many of us were asking was how the game avoided degenerating into a fight. It had the hallmarks at 10 minutes, when our captain, James McCulloch, was pushed to the ground about three feet in front of the referee, who had stopped play to speak to another player. I do not normally comment on the match officials, apart from when they look a bit glum, but even if the referee was writing in his book, you might expect him to notice out of the corner of his eye and consult his assistants. His failure to do so suggested he had lost control of the game.

Between ourselves and Cammell Laird traffic in players feels (not entirely accurately) like it has been largely in one direction over the last couple of years. Absent from the Cammell Laird lineup were Joe Gibiliru Jnr, Liam Hollett (at the ground but injured and suspended respectively), and Michael Grogan (work commitments). John Couch, who has been saying that he is playing his last season for a couple of years now, was playing for Lairds, as was Jack Webb.

Rob Doran keeps John Couch at bay

I was chatting at half time to Mr Webb, Jack's father, who joked that there would be no pictures of Jack this time. Jack is a good player, and very mobile, so made it into a few pictures, but his father understood my purpose for the afternoon, concentrating on our players so they can look good for their family and friends.

Jack Webb chases James McCulloch

Referring to Mr Webb as such reminds me that I am from the last generation that, as children, did not know, and certainly did not use, their friends' parents' first names, and even in our forties refer to them in formal terms. When the players were of my generation, logic suggested the courtesy be extended to their fathers, but I should remember I am of the fathers' generation now.

It is quite common at our level of the game not to include a substitute goalkeeper on the team sheet. Most clubs do not have the funds to pay a player likely to be a spectator, and take the chance with an outfield player if the goalkeeper is injured or sent off. However, in the games I have attended this season, most clubs have been naming a goalkeeper amongst the substitutes. Cammell Laird followed suit, so, when goalkeeper Kevin Atherton went off injured, there was no chance to test a non specialist, as he was replaced by Andrew Mills, on loan from Macclesfield Town.

Andrew Mills saves at the feet of Connor McCarthy

With our going a goal down before half time, the game could have gone either way in the highly competitive, but better behaved, second half.

Ged Murphy rallies the troops, with Ryan Eiselt and Rob Doran

However, we were still less than clinical in our finishing, for which we paid when we fell to what we have recently been successful in avoiding, a couple of late goals. The Cammell Laird bench seemed to enjoy them, particularly the second: the goal difference may be useful at the end of the season, but you would hardly have thought they had only taken a two goal lead in the fourth game of the season.

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