Tell her to find me an acre of land

In their second long away trip in as many weeks, Prescot Cables visited Scarborough Athletic, who currently play at Bridlington Town. The pharmacologists were disappointed to miss the trip, but they were at a conference, presenting papers on cutting edge developments in medicine and sampling traditional developments in fermented and spirituous beverages. I stayed overnight in Scarborough, seeing a play at the Stephen Joseph Theatre, and negotiating the lethal crossing outside the station, where the green man is timed to appear with traffic still coming round the corner.

Scarborough have a chartered Boro Bus, for a very reasonable £3, from the town and places on the way that do not have a service to Bridlington. I have yet to take my flat cap out of the cupboard and check for moth, whereas in Yorkshire the season for wearing them is well under way, so I may not have entirely blended in.

On entry to the ground, you need to be stamped like in an eighties nightclub (they may still do so, but the eighties was the last time I frequented one) to access the bar. Unfortunately, I put my hand in my pocket and wiped the stamp off, so I did not bother to be re-stamped, but watched the players warming up. The League have a sponsorship deal for some smart red training tops. This can provide initial confusion when everyone is training in the same colour. Given that the management wear them, I can see scenes like the Belgian manager having to put his jacket on in the World Cup when his white shirt, even with a tie, was blending in with the opposition. I hope they have something more substantial too, if the tops are all you wear on the bench at Harrogate Railway Athletic on a Tuesday night in January, you are going to catch your death of cold.

Mark McLaughlin warms up

The weather was not the best for a couple of days at the seaside, but the ground had cover on three sides, including the side backing on to the Rugby Club stand. Unfortunately I missed a shot of the home goalkeeper hoofing a rugby ball back over the wall.

Harry Molyneux from the Supporters' Club pointed out that they had centre flags, which you do not see much these days.

They could have redeployed them to the corners. It is not immediately apparent who or what is being supported here, but I think the flag is frayed, so the assistant referee is holding the end so it does not distract the player taking a corner.

There was a welcome return for Jon Bathurst, who re-signed a couple of weeks ago, and now has received international clearance after playing for Rhyl last season.

Jon Bathurst takes a free kick

I finally caught a goal - complete with a look on the defender's face more usually found immediately prior to a rugby tackle. I was not sure if it would be the picture the Merseymart chose, as the background is a bit cluttered, but it came out reasonably well in print.

Sam Corlett heads our goal

I got a decent picture at the other end too. The home side were awarded a dubious penalty, with a yellow card to James McCulloch, which we have applied to have rescinded. With Ciaran Gibson suspended, Adam Reid was keeping goal, and had a good game - and became the third of our goalkeepers this season to save a penalty. Of the three, this is the picture that most looks like a save, without having to take my word for it.

The yellow card was to play a further part a few minutes later, when James McCulloch was given a second yellow card for handball (hence the appeal against the first card). Whilst we were able to hold the home side off up to this point, they proved too strong for 10 men, so we came away without the points.

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

Final score: Scarborough Athletic 2, Prescot Cables 1 (Corlett)