AFC Bournemouth
Goalscoring hero Stephen Purches speaks about his lung-busting run and securing promotion at the Millennium Stadium 15 years ago today.
In the 56th minute of the 2003 Third Division play-off final at the Welsh national stadium, and with the score delicately posed at 2-1 in the Cherries' favour, 'keeper Neil Moss diverted away a Lincoln City cross, and suddenly the break was on.
"My memory is of Mossy punching the ball," Purches told afcb.co.uk. "It dropped down and was passed wide. I was on the penalty spot in our box and I thought 'I'm going to have to run fast here' to try and catch up with the ball. It was a case of no-one else being in front of me and me having to get forward into the box.
"It was a split second thing. At that moment I thought it was right to go and support the attack, happily it was the right decision.
"Hayts (James Hayter) played a nice ball into Wade (Elliott) and it was only me who had that chance to get there - and fortunately with the quality Wade had he was able to pick me out, I made contact with the ball and the rest is history.
"I'd made a full pitch-length run and I just needed to hit the target as the pace was on the cross. I tried to make the 'keeper work and fortunately he couldn't save it."
Purches's goal gained the Cherries a two-goal lead, with further strikes from Gareth O'Connor and Carl Fletcher completing a 5-2 win and promotion back to the third tier.
"It was a final and Bournemouth through their history haven't played in too many, so we felt that it was a massive occasion," remembered Purches. "We would have loved to have gone up automatically but we had a good end to the season where we got on a good run and we felt confident going into the play-offs.
"We were all young and had pretty much stayed together from the season before and wanted to put things right. There's no better way to go up than in a play-off final. I'm just pleased it wasn't the other way and we'd found out what a loss was like.
"To have that day, not only for ourselves but for the fans and our families, that was a huge moment, playing at the Millennium Stadium with the roof on, the atmosphere was electric the whole time. It wasn't really until we turned up on the coach and saw the amount of Bournemouth fans streaming the streets and going to the game where it sunk in what a final we were involved in.
"With all the stuff you see as a kid on FA Cup final days, it had that feel about it.
"People still mention that final, that's a nice thing about the day, I can't actually believe it was 15 years ago! That's a scary thought, it's amazing how time does go and how quickly the club has progressed from that moment.
"It was lovely to be part of a great day and to score was a real special moment for me but also everyone who was there that day."
