Mens 4th XI Vs Reigate Priory Cardinals

Purley 4’s 4 – 1 Reigate Priory Cardinals.

And so it was fitting and right that we gathered at halfway for a 1 minute silence before the match began to mark respect to our late President Dave Herring.

It was always going to rain, and I was always going to be hampered by an ill-advised hangover. Purley came into this match on a two game winning streak, off the back of a 7-3 win against Woking. Reigate had had a tough start to the season with 4 straight defeats, but a narrow win against Kenley and their first win of the season set them up for this match against Purley.

It started dry – the pitch at Reigate was a new, fast, slippery, bouncy affair, which did nothing for the first touch of yours truly – and definitely contributed to the slightly surprising opening goal for Reigate – a speculative pass into the D caught a deft Reigate stick and left the goalie with no chance.

Purley were a little shocked by this, and it took a few more minutes for the team to come together and start to play. Some late pressure in the first half was rewarded by a short corner. Captain Tom Alexander stepped up to the plate and despatched the ball into the bottom corner.

1-1 at the half, and the team talk from Alexander was brief and to the point – Purley had the better side, and simply had to overcome the pitch, and the conditions (it was blowing a hooley and throwing sideways rain down) and work together for the win.

Easier said than done, perhaps. But Purley stuck to the task, overcoming some spirited (and somewhat ill tempered) pressure by the Cardinals, and started to play, helped by a fantastic performance in the middle of the park by Kane Gin. Alexander netted another strike from a short corner, and Simon Van Pelt and Harry Williams finished the job. The Cardinals didn’t give up but couldn’t find a way back into the match.

I’ll say nothing about the floodlights turning off and plunging us into darkness mere minutes after fulltime, and instead thank the umpires for tolerating the foul conditions – we were all absolutely drenched by the end.

Three wins of the bounce, and by a combined score of 14-4 has Purley just 2 points from second in SOHL Division 2. Everything to play for with just 4 matches left before the Christmas break.

Simon Howers

Chief Sports Correspondent