Memory Match: Prescot Cables v Marine, FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round, Saturday 18th September, 1982.
This little piece was inspired by a chance conversation over LinkedIn with my old mate, Martin, who now lives on the other side of the world. The pairing of Prescot Cables and Marine in the semi-final of the Liverpool Senior Cup was a sufficient spur for me to pull the story together.
Thanks to editor, David Raven, it was published in Prescot Cables' online match programme for the game on 16th April 2024.
Background
In 1981, I graduated from University, and emerged fresh-faced and long-haired, ready for the world of work. Unfortunately, this was straight into the midsts of a recession, and work wasn’t ready for me! This was true, too, of Martin, my best friend from school, who had trodden a similar path (but with much longer hair!).
As a break from the misery of unemployment, we resumed watching Prescot Cables on Saturday afternoons, as we had done, before higher education had taken us. However, in the Spring of 1892, Martin made a drastic escape, and took a Summer job as a National Trust Ranger on the remote Shetland island of Fair Isle - a place full of seabirds, and where the sweaters come from!
Being less adventurous, I took employment with the Probation Service in Wigan! However, this meant that I could still watch the Cables, and, in those pre-internet and email days, I promised to provide Martin with regular updates and match reports of the Amber & Blacks, through a steady stream of letters to the far north of Scotland.
I caught up with Martin recently, and he mentioned that he still had some of those match reports from 40-odd years ago. This was even more remarkable, as they had survived various house moves, marriage and a family, and had travelled with him half way around the world to his home in New Zealand! He has kindly scanned a few of them for me.
Tonight’s meeting with Marine has given me an opportunity to look back at a cup-tie between the two sides, nearly 42 years ago, through the match report I wrote at the time, and which Martin has preserved. Reading it back, now, I think I enjoyed this game!
Season 1982/83 was the first for the newly formed North West Counties League, with Prescot Cables having transferred from the Cheshire County League. Marine were an established side in the league above, the Northern Premier League.
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Power Cables turn it on! Mariners catch a crab on sea of battle
Manager Roly Howard brought his master Mariners to Prescot to join battle in the first qualifying round of the FA Cup. Prescot, well known for their victories over opposition from higher leagues in recent years, were suffering a number of injuries, and introduced several players unknown to your reporter. Marine, too, were forced to make changes in their line up.
Your reporter, being in a very hungover state from the previous night’s merrymaking, was looking for a sparkling tonic to revive his flagging spirits - and didn’t we get just that?
A fair crowd saw Marine kick off in weather more suited to cricket than football, and in the early tussles it was the Amber and Blacks of Prescot who were the more prominent. In the third minute, Marine got the ball into the net through Smith, but he was adjudged to have fouled home keeper Allen, and the effort was disallowed. Marine seemed very nervous in these early minutes and in Prescot’s first attack their defence failed to clear the danger to enable Woof and [Ged] Stenson to create a chance for Steve Skeete to volley joyously into the goal via the crossbar from 15 yards.
At this point, the exchanges were fairly equal and much use was made of the offside trap by both sides. In 15 minutes, Marine brought on substitute Green for Cole, who had begun the match with a heavily strapped leg, and had never really looked comfortable.
Marine’s first clear chance came in 25 minutes when a shot from Smith was cleared by Orr, with keeper [Paul] Allen looking well beaten. Indeed, Allen had been the subject of immense pressure by the Marine forwards, and had looked far from easy under persistent heavy challenges.
In the 27th minute, Marine were awarded a penalty, following a foul by Kelly on Green. Smith sent the home keeper the wrong way to equalise. Although, it must be said, the Crosby side hardly deserved the goal.
To their credit, the Cables continued to come forward and most of the play was in the Marine half. In 34 minutes, Steve Skeete was unlucky not to notch his second, when he saw his free header from six yards rebound of the far post to safety, following a good cross from the by-line by Stenson.
Prescot seemed much more confident than their esteemed neighbours, and in 44 minutes they won a free kick on the edge of the Mariners area. Stenson took the kick and floated it across the area. The effort looked to have been wasted as the Mariners defence streamed out, but suddenly, from nowhere, Pedro Orr appeared to volley home a lobbed drive into the net from the angle of the box. What a goal, and what a finish the first half!
Half time: Prescot Cables 2, Marine 1
Although the second half was not as exciting as the first, Prescot continued to pile on the pressure, and dominated their Northern Premier League visitors. The weather had now turned dramatically from hot and sunny to cold and misty, and it seemed that the only thing which could stop Cables could be an abandonment through fog!
Marine did have some chances, however, and in 15 minutes their central defender should have scored when he met a ball only 10 yards out. Instead he volleyed over the metal fence at the golf course end.
Steve Skeete and Dave Renshaw were combining well on the right for Cables and created many chances between them to keep the Cables fans in good voice. It was noticeable now that the large contingent of Marine fans were silent, for the most part, and resorted to hurling abuse at the referee, who handled the game well.
The longer into the second period it went, the more confident Prescot got, and Marine began to look a very weary and ragged side. With 5 minutes to go, the Crosby side mounted their final fling, and good shot from the Mariner’s number 6 swerved just past the post. Prescot now knew they were through and played possession stuff until the final whistle, for a fine and well-deserved victory.
So, Prescot’s road to Wembley moves on to Caernarfon Town, although it is questionable whether your reporter will make that trip! But in this report, I’ll leave the summing up to [BBC Radio Merseyside Reporter] Neil Turner, “Make no mistake about it. Prescot were full value for their victory. They dominated the game from start to finish, and were superior to their NPL opponents in every department”.
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Cables were soundly beaten, 4 - 1 at Caernarfon in the 2nd qualifying round.
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