Heaton Mersey away, Iroquois Cup - 26 Oct 2002
Spending 6 hours in a minibus crawling up the motorway, and only arriving half an hour before face-off, it wasn't surprising that Purley made a very slow start. Mersey dominated possession in the first quarter, and pressured the Purley goal almost continually for the first five minutes. However, a combination of poor shooting by Mersey, and spectacular keeping by Paul Terry in the Purley goal kept the score at 0-0. Purley weren't helping their own cause, and turned the ball over far too often with handling errors, and elementary mistakes such as being caught offside. With that much possession it was only a matter of time before Mersey got their shooting boots on, and the quarter ended 0-4 to Mersey.
The second quarter was much of the same, though there were some encouraging signs for Purley, and they did manage to break their duck to take the score to 1-8 at the half.
Purley rallied in the second half, gaining much more possession, competed for the ball more, and showed more of what they are capable of. Chris Spence and Jamie Tasko both scored sweet goals, but at the other end Mersey were now in full swing, and their goals kept flowing.
Though the final score line of 4-18 may have been a tad harsh on Purley, it wasn't far off an accurate reflection of the game. Mersey are undoubtedly a good side, but Purley will feel that they didn't do themselves justice on this occasion.
Goals: Jamie Tasko 2, Mark Dingfield 1, Chris Spence 1.