Match Reports 2004/05

11 September 2004 - Stockport at home, Iroquois Cup

In the first of the North vs. South clashes this year, Purley played Stockport for the Iroquois Cup, which is played between the winners of the two Flags competitions. With the match being played pre-season, both teams were rusty, and much of the early play was characterised by unforced mistakes. Stockport were more decisive in attack, making far more good shooting opportunities, but a combination of poor shooting, and excellent 'keeping by Paul Terry for Purley kept them to a single goal in the first quarter. Purley, on the other hand, made most of their mistakes on the build up, but when they did manage to get into a settled attack they were more clinical with their scoring opportunities, and ended the quarter 3-1 up.

It was the second quarter when the tide turned Stockport's way. Purley's defensive mistakes, poor clearing, and failing to hold the ball in attack, gave Stockport the lion's share of possession, and they capitalised with four unanswered goals to take a 5-3 lead into half time.

The third quarter was much better for Purley, as they held the ball in attack for long periods, and worked the openings. On a couple of times they pulled the deficit back to a single goal, but at the other end Stockport had started to get their shooting boots on, and always kept their noses in front. Though Stockport had much less possession, they were much more clinical in attack this quarter, and so kept their two goal lead going into the last quarter.

If they wanted to cause an upset, Purley really needed to score first, but it was Stockport who increased their lead to 3 goals early in the last quarter, and though the teams traded goals, they never really looked to be in trouble. Final score 8-11 to Stockport.

Although the score was close, and neither side were at their best this early in the season, the fact that Purley's MVP was their goalkeeper Paul Terry (who had an excellent game) gives more of an indication in the difference between the two sides on the day.

One other point of note was that this was Dave McCulloch's last game in the Purley attack, as he is off to travel the world - so good luck to him on his travels. He marked his last appearance by top scoring with 3 goals, one of which was rather sweet as he faked flipping the ball to Matt Payne, and while the keeper was watching Matt, Dave bounced the shot into the top of the net. Nice.

Scorers: Dave McCulloch 3, Tim Richmond 2, Jamie Tasko 1, Matt Payne 1, Mike Barrett 1

25 September 2004 - Heaton Mersey at home, Wilkinson Sword

This week saw another North vs. South clash, this time with Heaton Mersey for the Wilkinson Sword, played between the two league winners. It wasn't looking too good pre-game for Purley with only 2 regular defence men available (out of a possible 5), and two of their best middies also out. On the other hand, Heaton Mersey also had 2 players out through injury, and a couple more unavailable, so were not at full strength either, and it looked like it would be an intriguing match.

The first quarter began with both teams having good spells of possession. As the quarter went on Purley started to gain more and more of the ball, with Jamie Tasko dominating the face-offs. The attack moved the ball patiently, making plenty of openings, and scored four goals without reply before Mersey got on the score sheet. The first quarter ended 5-1 to Purley, who looked to be in a very strong position.

Unfortunately for Purley fans, that was all she wrote. Mersey had to do something to turn this game around, and in the second quarter their defence pushed much further out, pressuring the ball at every opportunity. And it worked. Purley passes started to go astray, the patient offence of the first quarter turned to forced passes inside, and when the Purley defence had worked hard to get the ball, too many times poor clearing gave the ball straight back to Mersey. Of the twenty minutes in the second quarter, the Purple and Gold probably only had the ball for about three. However, good team defence, and excellent keeping kept them in the game with scores tied 5-5 at half time.

The second half was much of the same, though Purley did improve with each quarter. However, a combination of good defence by Mersey, and early season rustiness by Purley, meant they couldn't regain the fluidity of the first quarter. Still too often the wrong pass would be chosen, putting the next player in trouble. On a brighter note, the Purley defence were holding up well under the constant pressure. They largely stopped Mersey in settled attack, the majority of their goals coming from fast breaks or broken play, and when Mersey did manage to break through keeper Paul Terry made a number of excellent saves. Though after almost three quarters of almost constant Mersey attack, the Purley defence did tire rapidly in the last 5 minutes of the game, allowing Mersey to add four extra goals in that period, which gave them a rather flattering, though well deserved final score 6-15.

For Purley, Chris McCann had a good debut with 2 goals, and Greame Holland showed that attack men can play defence, with a fine performance as the third long-stick.

Goals: Jamie Tasko 3, Chris McCann 2, Tim Richmond 1

2 October 2004 - Hitchin at home, D1

After the last two weeks tough games, it was back to winning ways for Purley, as they cruised to a 19-2 win over Hitchin. Although Purley weren't in full flow, there were large periods of the game where they moved the ball well, and produced some well-worked goals.

Hitchin have several good young players, and at times moved the ball well in attack, though they lacked penetration. However, with only one sub to Purley's five, they tired in second half, and allowed Purley to dominate. Moments of note for Purley were Ted Whitehouse's goal and assist from defence, and of course we must mention Jamie Tasko missing an open goal after stripping the ball from a Hitchin player.