East Grinstead at home, Friendly - 11 Sep 2010

Saturday 11 September saw the first friendly of the 2010/11 Purley Lacrosse season, and it commenced with a home game (held at Monk's Hill Sports Centre) against East Grinstead, now becoming a regular pre-season fixture. We should start with a welcome to a new keeper Rick Bone and our new LDO Ryan McDonald. As many of you will know Paul Terry has started his "arduous married life" by setting off with his new "better half" on a world tour for the next year, so we are delighted to be able to welcome Rick an experienced keeper from "up north" into the team. Also debuting was Ryan McDonald, our new LDO midi, who hails from across the pond in New Hampshire.

So what of the game, well first we should thank Dave Slaughter and Andy Booth who each refereed a half each of the game. Purley started slowly trying to blend the squad into a team and we conceded to early goals before getting into our scoring stride, and it was Club Captain Mike Barrett who opened the club's account for the season to pull a goal back. Not to be outdone club Vice Captain Dave Cluney then put one away to bring the scores level at 2-2, Wes Wilkinson then gave us the lead for the first time at 3-2. The game continued to ebb and flow with a 3-3 score at the end of the first quarter. Fortunately we had a strong defence line up on hand to steady the team with Dean Searle, Andy Booth, Hamish Dickson, Dave Hudson, and Dave Slaughter all putting in appearances.

Quarter 2 started better with first Jamie Tasko adding to our lead and then LDO Ryan McDonald netted a pair, so at the end of the first half the score was 6-4. Quarter 3 saw Purley step up a gear as Dave Cluney went on a personal goal scoring rampage scoring 3 of the next 4 Purley goals, and even managed to break an opposition long stick with his arm in the process (an expensive start to the season for one defender). Purley took the quarter 4-1 giving the team a 10-5 lead at the end of the third quarter. Continued pressure in the final quarter from the team, with the defence keeping a clean sheet in the final quarter saw the team cruise to a 13-5 final victory, a reasonable start to the new season.

Team: Rick Bone, Dave Slaughter, Andy Booth, Dean Searle, Dave Hudson, Hamish Dickson, Mike Barrett (3), Andy Fernando, Ryan McDonald (2), Dave Cluney (5), Wes Wilkinson (1), Andy Davies, Jamie Tasko (2)
Ref: Dave Slaughter/Andy Booth

Photos by Steve Cluney.