 |
| Rob Purdie Playing In A Pre-Season Friendly Against West Bromwich - Pic Copyright Andy Compton |
In our third article about the career of Rob Purdie at Edgar Street BN looks back to the 2004/5 season.
Purdie's appearances were limited because of various injuries so he only made 22 starts and scored just two league goals but as the season went on his inclusion in the starting eleven helped Hereford finish second in the Conference.
Pre-season started with with Purdie scoring an outstanding goal at Evesham and having a good game against West Bromwich.
Manager Graham Turner didn't give Purdie a start until an away game at Accrington in October as the player had picked up a leg injury in late August. Then a groin strain keep him out of action and he didn't start another game until early December.
His record was noted in a first half review of the season.
'Rob Purdie - The disappointment of the
season so far. It has to be wondered if he is carrying an injury, maybe
the same one that caused him to miss the second leg of the play offs, as
he is nowhere near the level of performance that he showed last season.
He has only started seven times this season and has yet to impress. A
much better second half of the season needed for Purdie, or he may find
himself struggling for a new contract at Edgar Street come the end of
the season.'
On January 1st 2005 Purdie made a rare start for the Bulls against Exeter.
'Rob Purdie has
now been added to the injured list after he pulled up with less than ten
minutes of the game gone having sustained an injury to his hamstring.'
Luckily he wasn't out for long returning to the bench on January 22nd and starting against Aldershot on January 30th. From then on he featured in more games.
Some of those were in attack paired with Danny Carey-Bertram.
"Rob is growing in confidence in that position. He has a lot of pace and mobility which troubles opponents," commented manager Graham Turner.
But it took until March 25th for him to get on the scoring sheet. The game at Farnborough saw Hereford score six but Purdie had to wait until the 87th minute for his.
'His first time drive was too powerful for the outstretched of Petterson and it snuck inside the near post'
'His first time drive was too powerful for the outstretched of Petterson and it snuck inside the near post'
The win at Farnborough was the start of a great run of form for Hereford and Purdie started every game from then on until and including the Conference play-offs.
His next goal, a penalty, was scored against York. By this time, Purdie was back in midfield with Adam Stansfield and Lee Mills upfront.
"I tried to take my time. I was looking at the keeper and made sure to kick it the other way from that he went.
"He went down to his left and I tapped it to the right."
"He went down to his left and I tapped it to the right."
Once again Hereford were in the Conference Play-offs and once again they failed.
Turner soon offered Purdie a another contract but the player took longer to agree this time around. Confirmation came on June 1st.