Reading Wildcats at home, Prem - 19 Nov 2005

It was another beautiful day at Sandilands with the pitch in pristine condition, and Purley needed to continue last week's resurgence. To start possession was shared, but whereas Reading lacked penetration in attack, Purley were more incisive, and it was only a matter of time before Purley began to take control. Good team goals, including one by keeper Paul Terry, gave Purley a comfortable 4-1 lead at quarter time.

The second quarter was even better for the home team. With Mike Barrett winning the majority of the face-offs, and the Purley clear working well and causing more than one offside, Purley had plenty of possession. Slick ball movement and good work off the ball lead to a series of attractive goals, and Purley completely dominated to give a half time score of 10-1.

At that stage Reading must have been concerned they were in for a drubbing, but they used the half time break well to reorganise themselves. Better riding, varying attacking formations, and more control on the ball all helped in the second half. In contrast Purley already considered the job done, and their intensity dropped considerably. Even so, Purley won the third quarter 2-1, but Reading's dogged determination reaped it's rewards as they won the last 3-0 to bring the final score to 12-5.

Purley will be more than happy with their first half performance, but against the likes of Hampstead they will need to compete for the whole 80 minutes.

Goals (assists): Dave Arnot 3 (1), Tim Richmond 3 (2), Nigel Tasko 2, Paul Terry 1, Graeme Holland 1 (1), Mike Barrett 1, Dave Cluney 1

Photos by John Maynard.