Date: 28-Apr-09
Competition: League
Scorers: Alex Dick
Man of the Match: Scott Jeffries
Match Report:
Hamilton Harvest took on Avendale at Kirkland Park, Strathaven on Tuesday night and lost out in what turned out to be a scrappy and at times bad tempered game. Harvest lined up in the usual 4-4-2 formation with Shug in goals, right to left in defence was Omar, Hammy, Jaffa & Hawky, right to left in midfield was Gizzy, Alex, Rab & Gareth and the forward pairing of Shanksy & Paul lead the attack. William & Andy started on the bench. It was Avendale who carved out the first opportunity of the game when a curled shot from the edge of the area clipped the top of the Harvest crossbar. The game was very scrappy in midfield and Harvest were finding it hard to adjust to the conditions of the pitch which could only be described as a “tatty field”. Harvest were managing to get the ball forward to the strikers but any time they looked liked advancing they were either crowded out or challenged by the Avendale defenders, Harvest did manage to create some chances but nothing clear cut. Avendale took the lead midway through the first half, when a Harvest attack broke down the ball was launched up field, as the Avendale striker and Hawky battled for possession in the middle of the park the Avendale striker won the ball, this presented the striker with a clear run at goal and he rounded Shug on the edge of the area and slotted the ball in to the empty net. The game continued to be scrappy and Harvest pushed forward looking for an equalizer but the only chance created was a shot by Paul which the keeper collected comfortably and the half finished with the score 1-0. At half time William replaced Gareth, Shansky moved to left midfield and William went up front to partner Paul.
Harvest started the second half on the attack as they looked to get back in to the game and were more menacing going forward with Rab & Alex pulling the strings in midfield and Shanksy on the left, Gizzy on the right and Paul & William causing the Avendale defenders problems up front. Chances were now being created and it wasn’t long before Harvest got the goal they deserved, Shansky picked the ball up on the left, played it down the wing to Paul, who knocked it inside to William, Alex had made a great run from midfield and William laid the ball in to his path and from 20 yards out Alex sent a rasping drive past the keeper who never moved as the ball flew past him. Harvest were now in the ascendancy as they pushed forward looking for another goal, what followed was a turning point in the game which ultimately swung the game the way of Avendale, Alex picked the ball up in midfield and rode a couple of challenges as he advanced towards goal, just as he was about to pull the trigger he appeared to be brought down on the edge of the Avendale area, the referee deemed the challenge a fair one and play continued and with 3 passes up field the ball was played across the Harvest 6 yard box to an unmarked Avendale player who fired the ball in to the net to make it 2-1. The game had now turned in to a bad tempered affair with late challenges and fouls being committed by both teams, with Harvest’s playmaker Alex on the receiving end of most of these challenges. Avendale were then reduced to 10 men, Alex had dispossessed an Avendale player of the ball on the touch line, the player unhappy that he was not awarded a foul, then got up and after Alex had released the ball came right through the back of Alex with a vicious 2 footed tackle, this then resulted in a lot of pushing and shoving involving almost every player from both teams and after calmness was restored the referee took the Avendale player to one side and showed him a straight red card for the challenge. With the numerical advantage Harvest felt there was an opportunity to get at least a point from the game but any chance of that happening were snuffed out 5 minutes later when William who was booked shortly after coming on as a sub at half time was shown a second yellow card for a late challenge on an Avendale defender resulting in him being sent off as well. With the head count now at 10 men each Harvest continued to press forward desperately looking for an equalizer and in pushing so many men forward there were gaps left at the back which Avendale exploited and the game was effectively killed of in the 85^th minute when Avendale broke up the field and scored a 3^rd goal and the game finished 3-1.
Unlucky guys, we did play well at times and had Avendale on the back foot after half time and had we converted some of our chance the outcome may have been different. Well done to Alex who managed to score a great goal and well done to Jaffa who was awarded Harvest’s man of the match. Let’s forget about this result and take the positives in to the final 3 league games and let’s finish the season on a high.
Hamilton Harvest would like to offer our sincere apologies for comments made to the referee during this match and for comments made in this match report. These comments were made in the heat of the moment and no harm or offence was meant. Comments in the report have now been retracted. Hamilton Harvest understand that the job of the referee is a difficult one and without the luxury of assistant referee’s they can only make decisions based on what they see. Guys lets try and remeber that without the flexibility of all the league’s referee’s our games would not go ahead and lets try and show the referee’s some respect.