A coach load of Bavarian tourists

For Prescot Cables' game away to Mossley, the regular Train Crew and pharmacologists were joined by our friend Michael from Bavaria, and four of his family who had joined him to watch Everton's game against Tottenham. Due to the size of our party and to engineering works, we hired a minibus and driver for only a couple of pounds more per head than the train fare. Richie, our leader in beer and pub choices, booked a table for an excellent meal at the Cross Keys in Uppermill. The sat nav took us along a scenic, if narrow, route, not the glories of the Alps that our guests were used to, but rather the austere charms of Saddleworth Moor.

In Mossley, curtains seemed to be unknown: fortunately one resident did not spot that his somewhat premature miniature Christmas tree came under close inspection from our vehicle. We arrived to find kick off delayed by 15 minutes, due to some of the home team having been delayed, which I have not encountered before. The attendance was 111: had I known that during the game, I might have been tempted to take a lead from cricket and stand on one leg.

The floodlights are among the better sets in the Division, having been installed a couple of years ago. There is a deep strip of shadow down the middle of the pitch, which is odd for an arrangement with three heads per pylon, it is common with two, whereas three gives you more opportunity for an even spread.

Preparing for a corner in the Mossley goalmouth

Some of our team are participating in Movember, with James McCulloch and Dave Dempsey the first to sign up. We were only five days in, so results were not too apparent.

James McCulloch

Dave Dempsey

More players have since joined, so we should see the results through the month. You can donate through the players' page here.

Both sides served up a competitive game for our visitors, although the only goal in the first half came from a penalty to Mossley. Rob Doran made the scores even at the beginning of the second half, but Mossley bounced straight back.

Rob Doran

When I was at school, my Physics teacher, Mr Cook, was an eccentric man, with the appearance of an Old Testament prophet, and memorable explanations of physical laws, including whirling the board ruler round his head to demonstrate angular momentum. Even he may have been puzzled by how our second goal, from Ged Murphy on 80 minutes, found its way into the net. Here is it after Ged has dispatched it.

... and here is everyone looking surprised at where it ended up.

Out hosts' ability to match anything we did was the theme of the night, as they restored their advantage within a minute. The coup de grâce was administered in the 90th minute, after Adam Reid had gone forward for a corner. I would reserve this tactic for knockout competitions, but I can see it may be worth risking the goal difference for the possibility of a point. In this case, a quick clearance resulted in an almost open goal at our end.

Mossley is one of the more scenic grounds, although the advantage is seen during the day. As most of the view is of the moorland, the lights in the distance are mostly out of view on the lower slopes. As it was Bonfire Night, we had hoped the night might be enlivened by some fireworks, but these too seemed to be limited.

Final result: Mossley 4 Prescot Cables 2 (Doran, Murphy)