A city with handles

On the way to Prescot Cables' game at Lancaster City, all three pubs we visited offered the choice of a straight or handled glass. Two had a traditional dimpled glass, the third had a German looking contraption with a heavy base. I, not surprisingly, was the only handle user: Richie, our leader in beer and pub choices, chose a straight glass with the observation that we were not in Oxfordshire. Whilst southern beers served with a loose head work particularly well with a tankard, I am surprised they are not more common in the north: with the glass filled to overflowing for a creamy head, it seems handy to have part that stays dry.

By the time we reached the ground, it had started to rain, so fortunately we were playing towards the covered end. It was still unusually mild, so some had taken the chance to have a haircut before it gets too cold.

Jazz McCulloch

I was in the wrong position to capture the pre match handshakes, which is convenient for getting numbers, boots and haircuts all in a few frames to assist with captions. Numbers on the front of shirts, you know they make sense.

Both our Joe Evanses (or Joes Evans) were playing. The Joe and Joseph naming convention had been replaced by Joseph and Joseph J. Both players featured in the pictures I sent to TheNonLeague magazine: I stayed with the previous convention for now.

Joe Evans, aka Joseph J Evans

Joseph Evans, aka ... er ... Joseph Evans

It was quickly apparent this would not be one of our better performances, as we so often find at Lancaster. The hosts took the lead after 10 minutes, and added 2 more in the half hour. Any hope of coming back was probably extinguished when Lloyd Dean was sent off five minutes from the end of the half. I did not see the incident, but we then had the free kick. Waiting in the queue for the tea bar, a home supporter thought the sending off a little harsh, although retaliation (if that is what the card was for) tends to result in dismissal regardless of gravity.

My travelling companions disappeared to the pub at half time and did not return. I feel duty bound to remain in post, and was right to do so, as I like to capture players' first appearances, this time by Andy Scarisbrick. The announcer pronounced his name as written; I thought it was Scares-brick; and my friend Dr James from Crosby, not far from the village from which the name derives, pronounces it Scays-brick: none of us have had the chance to ask him. Oddly, I used the speech feature on Google Keyboard for Android to input this text before editing it manually, and it correctly spelled all three pronunciations. That was a surprise, as it always renders "goals" as "girls" - and I have never even lived in Hull.

Andy Scarisbrick

As those who went to the pub anticipated, the performance did not get better in the second half, with the hosts adding a further two goals. Our impressive home performance has still to replicate itself on the road.

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

Final score: Lancaster City 5 Prescot Cables 0.