I could get used to these last minute goals

Prescot Cables' game at home to Bamber Bridge was a key fixture, with both clubs looking strong over the last few weeks. The winners would take the driving seat to claim fourth place. With extra promotion places due to league reorganisation - second place automatically, and third for the team with the best points per game over the six step four divisions - this would guarantee a home playoff semi final, and if Hyde and Scarborough continued their run of form, a home final should we reach it.

Word had got around, and it was a pleasant evening, so we saw a crowd of 325, which a couple of years ago we would have considered one of the best for a Saturday, and unachievable in midweek.

The visitors' bench once again seemed intent on getting in a picture.

The first half was more or less in daylight, with light as intense as the average winter afternoon and of better quality.

These pages promote the value of keeping your shoes polished, so I could not fail to be impressed by Bamber Bridge manager Neil Reynolds' immaculate brogues - just visible here behind Reece McNally - and that he kept them clean on ground still damp from recent weather.

It is at evening games that the hardy denizens of the Gasworks Side come into their own.

Valter Fernandes

Chris Almond opened the scoring after 15 minutes. It is not the best of pictures, but a goal is a goal ...

... and a celebration is a celebration.

It would always be difficult to keep the visitors at bay, although we still had the lead at half time. The team seemed to be tiring in the second half, and Bamber Bridge took advantage about 15 minutes in. Fresh legs were needed, and supplied by Harry Cain and Josh Klein-Davies.

Harry Cain

Josh Klein-Davies

The latter was also to supply the all important winning goal. With the clock running down, and its looking as though we would share a point and the visitors maintain their advantage in the race for fourth place, Josh took a shot that had a slightly lucky deflection into the net.

Scenes, as we are becoming accustomed to reporting, ensued - Ben Barnes once again demonstrating an impressive turn of speed to join the celebrations.

To be fair, the result was harsh on Bamber Bridge, with a draw more closely reflecting play, but we have fallen to enough last minute goals in the past - there were seasons we would have been a few places higher in the table if games were 80 minutes not 90 - we enjoy them when the luck falls in our favour.

Board member Jamie Weston was wearing a tie (I assume the league sponsors have relaxed their insistence on one for board room admission, as no-one else was), so was pressed into presenting a bumper crop of awards. Valter Fernandes' Man of the Match from the Mossley game was running late (!), and Baba Conteh picked up a double of Man of the Match for this game and Player of the Month for March.

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 (Almond, Klein-Davies) Bamber Bridge 1.

Like last week, without the sideways snow

Prescot Cables' fixtures this season fell so we played Droylsden at home the week after we played them away. The weather was better: to quote Dickens, "It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade."

We thought we might be losing a couple of players ...

... who were then present and correct for the warm up.

Joe Herbert

It is the way it works at this time of year - our leagues have a registration deadline, the fourth Thursday in March. After this, clubs cannot make any new registrations, so most, especially those chasing promotion, ensure they have plenty of back up. Non contract players can sign for one club in each league, so clubs in the North West Counties League were busy signing players from the Northern Premier, who they may use if they are not needed for any of our games or for the week they play after we have finished our season.

We had been adding to the squad, with Michael 'MJ' Monaghan coming on from the bench.

Michael Monaghan

We started with a quick move forwards, as I was making my way round from photographing the teams lining up. I had one minute in the golden goal, but keeper Richie Branagan gathered from James Edgar and sent my ticket down the tubes.

I was in position to catch Baba Conteh open the scoring three minutes later.

I have talked about the tenth of a second that cannot teach before: this picture proved very popular, but it would have been better if I had caught the ball three feet closer to Baba's head. Still, a goal is a goal, and does not go uncelebrated.

Just to show I sometimes get a header at the moment of execution ...

Harry Cain

There is no bad time to score, but just before half time is often considered to be particularly good, as the opposition will go in with a bigger job to do than they were expecting. The ball fell to Chris Almond with a couple of minutes of the first half to go. He calmly took his time to line up - too calmly for the nerves of some, a veritable litter of kittens was being delivered behind the goal - and delivered the perfect shot.

Chris Almond

A goal just after the start of the second half is probably even better, as it throws the opposition manager's team talk out of the window. An opportunity fell to Man of the Match James Edgar...

... who rounded the goalkeeper ...

... avoided the defender ...

... and celebrated his goal.

It did not look as though the visitors would make a reply, but they were able to score a consolation goal just on full time, leaving us with the same score, although fortunately not the same weather, as last week.

I grabbed a couple of crowd shots.

The Fence End spot the camera ...

... and pose for their photo.

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 3 (Conteh, Almond, Edgar) Droylsden 1.

It's why we watch

By all accounts, Tadcaster Albion had more than a spot of bother on their journey to Prescot Cables. It is a journey that the east - west split of the League's First Divisions taking effect from next season should eliminate: our visitors had to navigate round both Leeds and Manchester in the early evening. The M6 is not without its issues, but the change should bring improvements for many clubs.

The visitors were sporting a smart two tone blue kit. I was wondering how it would come out under the floodlights - it reproduced quite well.

Josh Klein-Davies

Both sides had chances, and defended well. The visitors seemed to have overcome their earlier difficulties, as they were first to score, from a slightly lucky bounce half an hour in.

We were stronger in the second half, and the pace of the game can be described as furious. The pictures reflect this, with more coming from this half.

Valter Fernandes

However, it looked as though we were not having any luck this evening. There were more chances for both sides, but we were unable to equalise, or the visitors to make the result secure.

This changed a minute from time, when the ball fell to James Edgar who put it away from a tight angle. Celebrations broke out, but captain James McCulloch is never satisfied with an equaliser when there is time to score a winner.

As James Edgar celebrates, James McCulloch gets everyone back for the kick off

There was to be a long period of injury time, with both sides throwing everything at claiming all three points. Five minutes in, Lloyd Dean toook a shot from the edge of the area - Dr Phil later commented on the video that "he had no right to score from there".

Lloyd Dean lines up to shoot for goal

Scenes ensued.

Everyone went to join the Dean family in celebration, including an impressive turn of speed from Ben Barnes. A few weeks ago, my counterpart Ben from Needham Market tweeted a goal celebration with the comment, "If only you could see my face when a player runs towards you ...". I replied that I hoped he was calm, composed and concentrating on getting his picture. Well, I am 30 years older than him!

Reece Fishwick and Harry Cain

In the background, the referee is giving Lloyd Dean an unsurprising yellow card for excessive celebration. Of course, we thought there was nothing excessive about it, a last minute comeback is the sort of thing people watch the game for.

Tadcaster may have thought their evening could not get much worse: unfortunately they were wrong, as they had to go the long way round with the M62 being closed.

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 (Edgar, Dean) Tadcaster Albion 1

Away at home

Regular readers may notice that these pages do not stray much into professional football, so I was a little confused as to why Harry Kane received quite so many plaudits for the number of goals in a calendar year, when a season is what matters. We can still mark the achievement, albeit with dodgy punctuation.

Since November, Skelmersdale United have been sharing Prescot Cables' ground, having been ejected from Stormy Corner by the landlord. Our game away to them would therefore be in familiar surroundings, and convenient for transport as Skelmersdale does not enjoy bus services on New Year's Day. Not that I could say Prescot enjoyed them either, as I had a considerable wait for a connection.

Arriving at the ground, I went towards the gate for season tickets before swiftly remembering to join the queue to pay. As I was kitting out, programme editor Gareth Coates expressed surprise that I was wearing a good pair of boots to go on to the pitch. I explained that keeping them well polished means the rain runs off, which is why the Army are so keen on it. This would be amply tested during the afternoon. Once I was ready, I was about to breeze through the tunnel, then realised that I was not technically at my own ground and should wait until the teams had entered the field and the gate was opened again. We occupied the unfamiliar away dugout, and Dave Powell and his team were providing a blast from the past at home.

Our game at the weekend had been postponed due to a waterlogged pitch, and, whilst it had dried, rain was forecast. It duly arrived, and whilst I was getting my cover in place, Chris Almond opened the scoring against his former club. I was in time to catch the celebration.

Chris Almond celebrates his first goal

The regulars from the Fence End had taken shelter in the stand, and were snapping those of us out in the rain.

I caught the second of Chris Almond's goals.

We were seeing all the effects of the rain.

Jordan Wynne

It eased off for a while towards the end of the half.

Josh Klein-Davies

Two more goals from Chris Almond had me wandering round at half time puffing on an imaginary pipe murmuring that the last time anyone scored five in a game was probably Jack Roscoe in 1935 (he scored six in a 10-0 win against Harrowby in the FA Cup). Sadly, Chris was not to have the opportunity to equal this feat, as he took a knock to the Achilles tendon he ruptured at the beginning of the season, which put him out of action for three months, and so withdrew as a precaution.

Lloyd Dean assumed scoring duties ten minutes in to the second half.

Lloyd Dean

Given the light, I had taken my usual approach of positioning myself under a floodlight on the Gasworks Side. This was not one of my better decisions, as the wind was blowing from the west, so I was getting water on the front of the lens more quickly than I could wipe it off, giving a soft focus effect. I got a couple of exposures to illustrate the conditions.

Reece Fishwick

After getting this one, I retreated to shelter on the terraces on the stand side. From here, I was able to see Dan Burns score his first goal for the club.

Dan Burns celebrates his goal

After the game, I normally remove my high vis and waterproof trousers, but I thought it best to keep them on, as putting them in my bag risked drowning the camera. I was, however, delighted when I got home to find my highly polished boots had done the trick, and my feet were completely dry.

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

Final score: Skelmersdale United 1 Prescot Cables 6 (Almond 4, Dean, Burns)

Boxing Day internationals

On an otherwise dull Boxing Day, there is nothing like a bit of international football. On the pitch, Prescot Cables' game at home to Colwyn Bay was not much like international football - the accents of most of the visiting players suggested they came from the traditional recruiting grounds for many North Wales coast clubs of Liverpool and Manchester. Then again, when going there, I notice a majority of the television aerials point to Winter Hill rather than Moel-y-Parc.

I arrived in plenty of time after a surprisingly smooth journey - the margin being added to by ten minutes' delay to kick off caused by a power failure to the dressing rooms and board room. Although the sunset has been getting later for a couple of weeks, at this time of year the light depends a lot more on cloud cover. The floodlights were on and I used shutter priority from the beginning. Some were keen to add a splash of colour to an otherwise grey day.

The eyes of the crowd are on Brian Richardson's socks

Holiday time often means changes are required, and couple of players were keen to impress on their first start for a while.

Andy Scarisbrick

Once again we made no delay opening the scoring, with a goal from Chris Almond after six minutes.

Chris Almond shoots for goal

The visitors replied about five minutes later. I followed my usual practice of spending about twenty minutes on one side of the goal, then swapping sides.

Jordan Wynne

During this period, I sensed I was being watched, and looked up to see a large dog, of friendly demeanour, with its paws on the pitch perimeter fence, carefully inspecting my exposures. The dog's owner introduced herself: Samantha Heaps of Cryotherapy Liverpool, who offers treatment for sports injuries. It is a similar principle to ice packs, but uses a more intense cold to improve recovery times from injuries. Josh Klein-Davies had been the first to try it, and Samantha was looking for a few pictures to promote the service.

On the field, Chris Almond continued his run of goals to restore our advantage.

With the poor light and late start, most of the pictures in the final collection came from the first half. For the second, I went straight to the side of the pitch.

Reece McNally

A headed goal from Lloyd Dean ten minutes from time made the lead secure. I thought I had not got a particularly good picture, but it worked out reasonably well.

In any event, I got the ball in the net.

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 3 (Almond 2, Dean) Colwyn Bay 1

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)