Unseasonably warm

The first couple of weeks of November were unseasonably warm. I cannot remember getting so far into the month without the thermostat turning my central heating on. However, the rain was more seasonal, with some expressing concern before Prescot Cables' game against Clitheroe that it might be rained off. A number of other local fixtures fell to the weather, but ours survived with no sign of standing water. This probably helped our attendance: we certainly had a couple of visitors from Skelmersdale United - either to see how Andy Paxton was getting on or on a scouting mission.

We were joined by a German guest. Dr Mike, who watched Cables whilst researching at the University of Liverpool, had brought some relatives and friends for a short visit. He and most of his party procured tickets for Old Trafford via a method that sounded as dodgy as it was inconvenient, but his cousin Markus, a supporter of SpVgg Unterhaching, elected to join us in Prescot.

More heavy rain fell when we were in the pub before the game, but by the start the sun had returned temporarily. I made my way around the pitch in the opposite direction to my normal practice, going first behind our own goal. I was rewarded with some pictures of our defence with the sun behind them.

Jonah O'Reilly with Clitheroe's Sefton Gonzales

With the sun low in the sky, some pictures had a lot of back lighting, not necessarily from looking into the sun, but also from its reflection on the perimeter fence. This could be dealt with using the raw converter but would probably have been unsalvageable relying on the JPEG from the camera.

Antony Shinks - as captured on camera ...

... and the picture rescued

The rugby was on the television in the bar...

The game was goalless at half time. Rob Doran giving us the lead early in the second half. Clitheroe restored parity through Sefton Gonzales fifteen minutes from the end. Although both sides looked as though they could score, we were primarily working to retain the point. The defence performed well, with some sterling work from Marcus Burgess ...

... and good backup when needed.

Joe Herbert clears off the line

Another solid performance, assisted by some tactical timing from the crowd returning balls that had gone into the space on the gasworks side to purchase a few seconds breathing space, ensured we held on to a hard fought point against a team currently in a play off position.

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

Final score: Prescot Cables 1 (Doran) Clitheroe 1.