Up hill and down dale

The plans a number of us made for a day out for Prescot Cables' game at Colne were complicated by rain. We heard on Friday evening that there would be a pitch inspection at 10:15, and heavy rain was forecast overnight. As it turned out, it was not as heavy as expected, so the game was on, leaving less time than we had planned to get there. Dr Phil had an Advance ticket from Edinburgh, arriving in Colne at lunchtime armed with a list of pubs. Being able to delay our departure, and losing a minute at every station due to the guard taking his time to emerge to open the doors, Dr James and I went straight to the ground, which vies with Mossley for the highest ground in the Division, although the latter has the steeper hill.

The gradient of the pitch drew comment from many. I looked at the elevation of the corners on Google Earth - clockwise from the turnstiles at the south west corner it gave, in metres, 198, 201, 198 and 195. I am not sure about their accuracy: there is hardly any drop between the corners at the top of the hill, and there definitely is one from south west to north east. Based on the figures and the evidence of my own eyes, I would estimate a 10 - 15 feet drop into the south east corner.

Valter Fernandes - the south east corner in the background

Winning the toss, we chose to play uphill. Teams often play with the conditions in the first half, as they could change in the second, although if the slope were to move during the game, any advantage in the second half would be a minor consideration. Dr Phil made the observation that we were playing against 12 men, 11 players and Sir Isaac Newton. Sitting on the ground at the top of a steep hill gives the chance to incorporate players into the scenery.

Harry Cain dominates the landscape

Catering establishments are often named after local landmarks. If this one was paying by the letter for their advert, they should have some money back.

Even allowing for the slope, we were making hard work of the first half and went in 2-0 down at half time.

Brian Richardson makes representations to the referee

Goalkeeping coach Garry Williams told me he was a bit surprised the game went ahead, as the lowest corner was particularly soft, describing it with the single word "squelch". There were shallow channels to drain water on to the hard standing, which here is well below the level of the pitch. One or two channels were still carrying flowing water.

Again, the slope made for a good photograph.

James McCulloch

I followed my normal practice of staying on the same physical side of the pitch for both halves so I catch the players on opposite sides of the team, with this being particularly marked on this occasion, with Valter Fernandes and Harry Cain dominating the first half pictures, and James McCulloch and Josef Faux prominent in the second.

Josef Faux

The hosts were adjudged to have handled on the goal line about a quarter of an hour in, and Jordan Wynne stepped up to take the penalty. The hosts remonstrated at length with the referee, then made a substitution, which gave Jordan a long time to think about his kick, with a not uncommon result.

Lloyd Dean came on shortly afterwards, and pulled a goal back - I did not manage a shot, and we were keen to restart quickly, so celebrations were brief.

Lloyd Dean

Despite making good use of the gradient, we were unable to finish for the second goal we needed to secure a point.

The rest of the pictures from the game can be seen on the club website here, and on Google Photos here.

Final score: Colne 2 Prescot Cables 1 (Dean)