Over dressed for the weather conditions

Easter Monday dawned cold and misty, and the forecast was for the temperature not to improve, so a jacket and coat was in order for Prescot Cables' trip to Warrington Town. Dr Phil was back in the country, and advised soon-to-be-Dr James and me that he would be in the Prince of Wales. It is no establishment for a CAMRA member, so I had no intention of joining him there. Richie, our leader in beer and pub choices, was already in the Lower Angel with his wife, Sharon, so we rescued Phil joined them, with the beer being up to the usual high standards.

A bus would have left us hanging around at the ground for a long time, so we took an eye wateringly expensive taxi (£12 for 1.7 miles, although there were five of us to share the cost). As we passed the Prince of Wales on the way to the rank, there seemed to be a fight going on outside.

The weather improved beyond the forecast, and those who left home later than me were dressed for the summer. How would we recognise Shaun Reid if he was not wearing a jumper?

Ah, there he is.

Car breakdown service from the Aaaaaay Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!

Mr Reid can be sensitive to the crowd, and he seemed quieter after his instructions were greeted with impersonations from the visiting supporters. That was not an unqualified success, as the hosts seemed to play better when left to their own devices.

The ground had a few reminders of the FA Cup game in November, the most visible being orange temporary fencing where the BBC needed to remove part of the wall to get equipment on the pitch.

Ben Morrow

A rule of commentary observed by the late cricket commentator Richie Benaud was, "there are no teams called 'we' and 'they'". This blog does claim commentary or impartiality, so I am happy saying "we" started the first half with the sun behind us - good for the players, but the lighting is tricky with the players entirely backlit.

Danny Flood

Some shots worked quite well with partial shadow.

Andy Harper

The hosts were awarded a penalty after a quarter of an hour, with Ben Wharton sending Ben Morrow the wrong way.

Lighting was easier for the second half.

James McCulloch

The players made it easier with some good runs ...

Sam Corlett

... but we were unable to convert pressure to goals.

Liam Dodd makes an attempt on goal

Towards the end of the game, with all our substitutes used, Liam Hollett needed lengthy treatment for a recurrence of a stomach muscle injury picked up against Salford a couple of weeks previously. He reported afterwards that he thought it was probably the end of his season, so we look forward to seeing him back in action after the summer.

Liam Hollett

A second goal from Ben Wharton produced a result that was probably in line with current form.

After the game, we headed back to the town centre, where Richie led us to the Friar Penketh, one of the few places for decent beer in the town centre (I believe the Lower Angel is closed in the early evening on bank holidays). This led to an anti Wetherspoon  revolt from James and Phil, so I adjourned with them to the Blue Bell, with benches outside where we could observe a surprising number of people finding the adjacent water feature something of a bank holiday attraction.

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

Final score: Warrington Town 2 Prescot Cables 0.