In the black

Having had three weeks' practice, I am a little more punctual in my arrival at Thatto Heath Crusaders, and in two of those weeks, I would have been on time if we had Pay-As-You-Go Lobster cards for public transport like in London. As it is, an Arriva ticket on my phone is my best option for the week as a whole, but means I have to let Stagecoach buses (a third of the service on the 10A) go past. It's grim up north.

Play had only just started when I arrived for the Challenge Trophy game against Oulton Raiders. I was not sure from where the visitors had come, but the accents from their bench suggested one of the higher numbered junctions on the M62, and, as I later found, near the former grandly named, but rather less grandly operated East & West Yorkshire Union Railway.

Looking for fixtures online, you can encounter silos, and, had I been relying on the National Conference League, I would have thought there was no game this weekend, even though the Trophy is for clubs in that league. Fortunately, rugby-league.com turned out to be a reliable source of information.

I realised as I set up, that I would have a challenge I had not encountered before, a predominantly black kit on a bright sunny day. I do not come across this in football, as, at the level I watch, black is still reserved for the match officials.

The challenges for the players go without saying, and the water carriers were kept busy. For me, the camera exposed for an average of the kit and surroundings, so I had to tweak the lighting later to avoid a lack of detail, but to do so as not to wash out the background.

The visitors, were wearing light grey, which I have also not encountered before.

I still cannot make my mind up as to whether it is better to photograph from the end of the pitch or the side. I started from the end, as this put the sun behind the camera, and me in some welcome shade.

The unfortunate side effect was that a lot of play was happening with the white walls of the indoor training hall in the background.

I even captured a try under the posts - at least reasonably close to one, the referee was in my way when the ball was grounded.

With the hosts in the Premier Division, and the visitors in Division 2, there was a clear balance of advantage on paper. Oulton kept themselves within range for the first half, remaining within one try at half time. As often happens in games with this gap between the teams, Thatto Heath took a firm grip on scoring in the second. By this time I had moved to the side of the pitch, with the trees making a more manageable background on many of the pictures.

Being positioned near to Oulton's bench, I could hear they maintained a positive approach, still encouraging the team to keep pushing for a consolation score even when the game was well beyond them.

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

Final score: Thatto Heath Crusaders 36 Oulton Raiders 10