Double letters and crown greens

My journey to Prescot Cables' game at Kendal Town was, as expected at this time of year, disrupted by the number of slow moving people out and about. Although my trains were on time, every time I tried to use a few minutes' connection time for a coffee, too many people got in the way, so I did not get one until I arrived in Kendal, by which time I could physically feel the caffeine infusing my brain.

At the ground they had a problem with unwanted double letters.

Mr Photoshop makes it the work of a moment to rectify.

The steward by the gate looked puzzled as I took a picture of the sign. I am not sure why, as it is behaviour he must have seen before: I know half a dozen people off the top of my head who like to do so, particularly if they are visiting a new ground.

I had time to spare of a length that needs an English word (I wonder whether it has one in German), i.e. not quite long enough for a pint, arriving as the players were changing. Our previous visitors from South Shields recommended gloves from Viper Goalkeeping, their local supplier, so I was called upon to catch a couple of shots of Ben Barnes trying the samples in the warm up.

Ben Barnes

Ben was back in action, but looking to wear these leggings to cover stitches from his recent work injury. We made what may have been an error by asking the referee nicely if he could. The Laws state that undershorts must be the same colour as the main colour of the shorts. At this level, where players use their own time and money to purchase such garments, most referees allow a continuation of any colour on the shorts. However, if he had encountered the number of shoppers I had, I can see how a spot of jobsworthery would brighten up his day, so he took a strict interpretation.

There was plenty of room to move behind the goals, so I decided to try out both sides in the first half.

Lloyd Dean

I had got up to cross over when play quickly came towards me, so I took a few shots standing up. Only one made it onto the final collection, but this illustrates perfectly the difference you get with your vantage point being three feet lower - note how much of the background is the pitch.

Chris Almond

The opposite corner gives a lot of sky in the background.

Baba Conteh

I knew Kendal's ground has a slope, which has been handy for photography in the past, but I thought it was a constant gradient. It is only from sitting on the ground that I saw it slopes upwards from the Parkside Road end before sloping down just before the half way line. There is a point at the other end beyond which feet start to disappear.

Joe Herbert

A goal from Lloyd Dean five minutes before the end of the half put us ahead, but the spirited spell from the hosts in response suggested one might not be enough.

The lights at Kendal are quite good, and the cloud had cleared, so I knew the combination would allow me to try out the end at the bottom of the hill before I needed to move to the side. Looking up to the stand gave a good background.

Jordan Southworth

A second goal from Jordan Southworth as I was moving round to the side gave us an extra cushion, which would prove to be necessary ten minutes from time when Kendal pulled a goal back.

This was the first game back for James Edgar, who left us for a while at the beginning of the season to try his luck in Tommy Lawson's stockpile of players at Marine.

James Edgar returns to service

Josh Klein-Davies had come on as a substitute, and took the chance to make a claim for a start with a goal in the last minute.

Josh Klein-Davies shoots for goal

After the game, I stayed at the club until the players got on the coach, and discussed cold places we have been with video analysis student Josh - which in his case seemed to be most places away from his home in the tropics of Wigan, whereas I recalled how cold this fixture was last year. I completed my visit in the Ring O' Bells for their local beers, open fire, and first class entertainment from the regulars in the public bar.

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

Final score: Kendal Town 1 Prescot Cables 3 (Dean, Southworth, Klein-Davies)

Disrupted arrangements

Many Prescot Cables supporters were looking forward to visiting South Shields on the 9th December. Rooms, train tickets and minibuses had been booked, with deposits and fares paid, and we expected a large support. Two weeks ago, the fixture was switched by the league to the 25th November as Droylsden progressed in the FA Trophy and South Shields were knocked out, so our longest away trip was brought forward by a mere 2 weeks at short notice. We would have had difficulty raising a side, as many players needed more than two weeks' notice to get time off work or rearrange family matters. Fortunately, South Shields were prepared for the possibility of going anywhere if they had won in the Trophy, so we were able to play our home game this weekend, with the away game over the Easter bank holiday.

We have not been accustomed to top of the table clashes, but the league leaders were visiting third place, so I was not surprised to find two coaches parked outside with a third manoeuvring in as I arrived. We attracted an attendance of 418, including a flag bearer from Scarborough, who called in on the way back from his abortive trip to Colwyn Bay, where their game fell victim to a late downpour. Our Verti-Draining once again paid off, as the pitch, whilst heavy, had no standing water from the week's rain.

There were a number of photographers, including Andy Nunn, whose work I have seen with Dulwich Hamlet and various southern clubs, some way off his normal circuit representing the Non League Paper. You can see his pictures here.

The visitors were captained by Julio Arca, formerly of Sunderland and Middlesbrough, and Argentina at youth level. I was tempted to engage in Copa America related trolling by asking Rod the bugler to play the instrumental introduction of the Chilean national anthem, but I suspected it might not be in his repertoire.

Julio Arca pursues Jordan Wynne

Two photographers were with the visitors, and Andy joined them at the Roadshow End, so I had the sole lens trained from the Safari Park End.

Reece McNally

There was an extra fixing behind the net (which may have been for the visitors' video camera), which prevented me crossing the pitch, so I stayed in one position for the whole of the half.

For the second half, I once again started in front of the stand at the Roadshow End. Many away supporters decided to stay put, either because they liked the cover amplifying their sound, or they had assessed the likely weather and did not want to be out in it. Either way, they were joined by our Fence End, so I had plenty of noise behind me.

Chris Almond

After a few minutes, I needed to move to the side for the light. The weather since the previous afternoon had been showery, and given the noise it made against my roof and window, was mainly hail. We had a couple of hail showers whilst I was on the Gasworks side. Hailstones are large enough to attract the attention of the autofocus, thus ruining a fair proportion of my exposures.

Harry Cain makes a tackle

We were holding the visitors at bay when Louis Coyne was dismissed for a foul denying a goal scoring opportunity, so for the last ten minutes we were defending with a man down. A superb team effort secured the draw and meant the visitors dropped points for only the second time in the league this season.

With a whole team performance, the man of the match award went to the captain.

James McCulloch receives his award

The rest of the pictures from the game can be seen on the club website here - the Pitchero uploader has at last acquired an option to display the pictures in the order I took them - and on Google Photos here.

Final score: Prescot Cables 0 South Shields 0.