Left over from November

Last week saw Prescot Cables' game against Tranmere Rovers in the quarter final of the Liverpool Senior Cup. This was originally scheduled for November, and fell to three weather related postponements. The competition has about eighteen entries, and we can see the complications elsewhere from this winter in larger counties.

The week had not started well. After a run of games against sides at the top of the table, our visit to Harrogate Railway Athletic, which I followed on Twitter, had been every bit as challenging, with Harrogate in a battle with Ossett Town to avoid the second relegation spot. An early lead was overcome by the hosts following injuries to Rob Doran and Lloyd Dean. From the x-ray the latter posted on Facebook, showing a distance between humerus and scapula you would not expect to see with the arm still attached, I thought we would be asking if he was going anywhere nice for his holidays and checking we had his number for pre season training. However, his assurances he had dislocated that shoulder before and it just popped back in proved to be well founded, and he was in the starting lineup.

Lloyd Dean

I have seen Tranmere knock us out of this cup twice before, once in about 1993, and more recently winning a semi final on penalties after a 4-4 draw at Prenton Park four seasons ago.

The visitors fielded a young side, mainly from the Reserves augmented by a couple of first team players, all decked out in nice reflective white.

Joe Evans

I was pleased to see Andy Harper playing after a long period out of action with a recurring injury.

Andy Harper

We had held our own for most of the first half, until the visitors scored a minute or two from time, just the right time for a morale boost for them. We then had our own chance, with the referee adjudging that Josh Nicholson's shot had not crossed the line, an assessment that did not meet with universal agreement.

Josh Nicholson shoots for goal ...

... and it is cleared off the line - or maybe not

It started started raining heavily at the beginning of the second half, so I took shelter under cover at the Hope Street End. I even got some pictures from this position, which would have been almost impossible with my previous kit. I was still there so see Phil Bannister score our first goal.

Phil Bannister watches his shot head for goal

The rain eased after about 15 minutes, so I went outside to the Gasworks Side. I was starting to ponder the dreaded penalty shootout, which comes if scores are level after normal time, sensible for a competition played mainly in the evening. However, after 82 minutes, a ball from a goalmouth scramble fell to James Edgar who put it away. This was the same minute of the game as he scored at Northwich.

James Edgar scores - a goal most definitely is a goal

Whereas that was a consolation, this was the winning goal. I was pleased to see James scoring again, he has been useful keeping defences busy all the season but has not seen this rewarded with goals. Also, scoring is as much as anything about confidence, the more you do, the more you can see yourself doing so again.

The result took us into the semi finals, although, given the limited time available, I was concerned this may be a season, of which there have been eight in the past, mostly in the sixties and seventies, where the competition has not been completed. The draw took place, and we will play Litherland Remyca, a name which, bizarrely, the voice function on Google Keyboard can spell, which was to be a treat for the forthcoming bank holiday, but will now form part of the pre season programme.

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

Final score: Prescot Cables 2 (Bannister, Edgar), Tranmere Rovers 1.

Wild Rovers

This is an unusual report for a photo blog, with no photos from the game I am talking about. The reason is, of course, the ground regulations: -

19 Save as set out in paragraph 16 above, no person (other than a person who holds an appropriate licence) may bring into the Ground or use within the Ground any equipment, which is capable of recording or transmitting (by digital or other means) any audio, visual or audio-visual material or any information or data in relation to the Match or the Ground. Copyright, database rights and any other intellectual property rights in any unauthorised recording or transmission is assigned (by way of present assignment of future rights to the Club and The Football League. You further agree (if and whenever required to do so by the Club and/or The Football League) to promptly execute all instruments and do all things necessary to vest the right, title and interest in such rights to the Club and The Football League absolutely and with full title guarantee.

I think we can all agree that is quite comprehensive. The paragraph 16 allows mobile telephones provided they are not used to disseminate audiovisual material from inside the ground. It is a different world from that in which we move, a brand to be protected, rather than depending on supporters to provide the publicity the club needs to survive.

Prescot Cables were playing at Prenton Park, the home of Tranmere Rovers, in the semi final of the Liverpool Senior Cup, having been reinstated in the competition due to Southport's having fielded an ineligible player in the previous round.

I started watching Prescot Cables 20 years ago, when my friend Roger drummed up support for the club by bringing his friends from University along. Today, this function is fulfilled by Phil, who got together a group of us to go to the game by the Mersey Ferry, pausing for a pint (but not a haircut) in the excellent Gallagher's Pub and Barbers in Birkenhead.

Tranmere accurately anticipated the crowd of 273, as they had opened an area of the main stand with, I would estimate from the small number of empty seats, a capacity of a little over 300, with a good view of the pitch. This was just as well, as we were treated to an excellent game, especially as they had only charged £3 admission. As Tranmere were fielding some first team players, I thought a good result would have been to keep them to two or three goals, and to score a goal ourselves.

To say our team exceeded these modest expectations is putting it mildly: not only did Prescot score, but we scored the first goal; when Tranmere scored the anticipated couple in reply, Prescot came back again; when Tranmere put the game to bed in the 90th minute, we ensured extra time with a goal in the last few seconds of injury time. The EvoStik League website listed the time as 95 minutes, rather than the customary 90, which may have been accurate, but will have left the casual observer wondering how we came to be playing extra time. Coming back from behind again in injury time meant penalties, with both teams' efforts all being on target, but one from Prescot being saved.

Going to a Football League ground, although it is a big day, can sometimes feel like a bit of a bind, with no pictures, restrictions on what you can take in - I sometimes wonder if I am to be parted from the rolled up newspaper for reading on the way home. This is especially so when the expected defeat materialises, but there are times an amateur  team like ours can produce a turn up for the books and hold a fully professional team, which makes the exercise worthwhile.

The report would not be complete without a couple of pictures (from the next game, obviously). It seems almost unfair to only show a couple of players, as it was first and foremost a team performance, but here are our goal scorers, Steven Tames, who scored a hat trick, and Michael Grogan, who scored the goal to ensure extra time.

Steven Tames

Michael Grogan