Stockport at home, Iroquois Cup - 11 Sep 2004

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