Hitchin away, Prem - 3 Oct 2009

The start of the 2009-10 league campaign saw Purley heading into the wilds of Hertfordshire to play Hitchin. Purley's 17 man squad saw the long awaited return of Andy Booth, the first league appearance of new American coach Dave "Gordie" Bennett, and Paul Terry returning tanned and refreshed from his honeymoon (congratulations to him and Helen). All in all, the Purley team had a good mix of experienced players laced with a number of younger players.

Playing conditions were good, with a hint of gusty wind. Purley put into practice their summer training sessions, which paid off with two goals coming from Dave "Gordie" Bennett. Continued possession saw Purley ending the first quarter 3-1 up.

It was more of the same possession, quick passing and off the ball movement from Purley in the second quarter, with Wes enjoying his freedom behind the cage, moving, passing, and feeding the cutters well. Goalkeeper Paul Terry’s precise passing and Purley’s well worked clear led to a number of off-sides by Hitchin, and Purley were able to capitalise on the resulting man-ups to finish off the second quarter with a comfortable 7-2 lead.

A confident Purley side came out for the 3rd quarter, extending their lead by 1 goal coming from Guy. For the first 10 minutes of the quarter Purley continued to dominate possession, and really should have put the game comfortably beyond Hitchin's reach, but though they created many scoring opportunities they failed to take any of them. This allowed Hitchin to respond back with 3 goals, generated from good movement off the ball for which they are known, before Mike Barrett added to his already growing tally to give Purley a 9-5 three quarter time lead.

Final quarter and again Purley started off with Mike Barrett scoring to give a lead of 5 goals. Hitchin rallied together at this point and started to eat away at Purley’s lead. Despite Jesse and Dave "Gordie" Bennett both hitting the pipe, Purley struggled to kill off Hitchin’s momentum, and the tension grew as Hitchin pulled the score to 10-9 in the closing stages. Rob Clark had been having a great day facing off, winning the lion's share of possession, and this became crucial towards the end of the quarter. A face-off win from Rob, and a quick string of passes saw Jesse firing one in off the pipe to end the match with a Purley win 11-9.

A good work rate and team effort from all for Purley’s win, though the made it difficult for themselves by not closing out the game at the beginning of the second half, which allowed Hitchin to fight back well towards the closing stages.

Goals: Mike Barrett 5, Dave "Gordie" Bennett 3, Jesse O'Hanley 1, Dave Cluney 1, Guy Francis 1
Thanks to Ref: Hazel; CBO: Sevan

Photos by Steve Cluney.