Date: 31-Mar-09
Competition: League
Scorers: Davy McKean, Graham Shanks (3)
Man of the Match: Alex Dick
Match Report:
Hamilton Harvest took on Carluke at Wishaw Sports Centre on Tuesday night and after Carluke had beaten Harvest convincingly in the league and cup already this season Harvest were out for some revenge. Once again due to work commitments and injury the Harvest squad was a wee bit depleted, however Davy still managed to name a strong starting eleven and opted for a 4-4-2 formation. Shug continued in goals, right to left in a makeshift back 4 were Omar, Daryl, Hawky & Aiky, right to left in midfield was Gareth, Rob Roy, Alex & Davy McKean Jnr. and Shanksy was paired with Tony to lead the attack.
From the first whistle Harvest got right in about Carluke and didn’t allow them to settle on the ball, the Harvest boys fought for every ball and were winning battles in all areas of the field. Harvest had the majority of the possession in the first half and created the majority of the chances with Shanksy, Tony, Davy & Rob coming close with shots which were either collected by the goal keeper or went narrowly over or wide of the goals. The most clear cut opportunity to open the scoring fell to Harvest when a rasping drive was tipped over the bar by the Carluke keeper. Despite Harvest’s domination in the first half Carluke were still posing a threat on the break but the back four were superb in snuffing out the danger. When Carluke were attacking they were trying to play the ball up to Ryan Smith, their big target man up front but Daryl was superb at the back and didn’t allow Ryan a second to turn and play the ball and on the very few occasions when the ball was played up the flanks or over the top of Ryan & Daryl, Aiky on the left, Omar on the right and Hawky in the middle were there to clear the danger or the ball ran harmlessly through to Shug in the Harvest goal. In the first half Carluke were limited to only 3 shots on goal, 2 of which went wide and the other was collected by Shug. Despite the fact that Harvest dominated the first half and had a few good chances to open the scoring they could not find the net and both teams went in at half time with the score at 0-0.
Harvest started the second half as they finished the first by getting right in about Carluke and allowing them no time on the ball, and it was because of this that Carluke were limited in ideas and opted for the long ball tactic with little or no affect. All the goal scoring action was in the second half and it was Harvest who took a deserved lead in the 60^th minute, Davy picked the ball up midway inside the Carluke half and ran at the Carluke right back (who had been terrorized all game by the Harvest forwards), the Carluke defender continued to back pedaled as Davy neared the 18 yard line, Davy then dropped his shoulder left to fool the defender in to going that way but shifted the ball right to open up the space to curl a delightful right foot shot low passed the keeper and in to the bottom right hand corner of the goal to give Harvest the lead that they deserved. Harvest were boosted by this goal and continued to boss the game in all areas of the pitch, the defence continued to be solid and the Carluke strikers weren’t getting much joy, Robert and Alex were running the show in midfield and when going forward Davy on the left, Gareth on the right and the front two of Shanksy & Tony were running the Carluke defence ragged. Harvest continued to press forward looking for more goals and got a second goal, Tony picked the ball up on the Harvest right and put was seemed a harmless ball in to the area which the keeper looked as if he would collect, however the keeper completed missed the ball and it ran through to Shanksy who had the simple task of tapping the ball in to the empty net to score his first and Harvest’s 2^nd goal. Carluke didn’t give up and continued to press forward looking for a way back in to the game, but they were limited to a few long throw in’s which were dealt with by the defence or keeper or when any shots were on there was always a harvest player in the way to block the effort or clear the danger. Harvest were hungry for more goals and pressed forward in pursuit of this and were unlucky on a couple of occasion as Alex and Robert had efforts which went narrowly over the crossbar. Harvest did get a well deserved 3^rd goal in the 73^rd minute, once again Tony picked up the ball on the Harvest right he cut inside the Carluke left back and fired a fierce shot at goal, the Carluke keeper blocked the shot but the ball deflected up in to the air and Shanksy was on hand at the left hand side of the goal to out jump the defender and header the ball back across the goal in to the far corner of the net to grab his second goal and make the score 3-0. Carluke who have the best defensive record in the league this season having only conceded 16 goals in 14 games, were looking a bit shell shocked at conceding 3 goals in a 13 minute period, however they continued to press forward in pursuit of a goal that might bring them back in to the game. Carluke did pull a goal back in the 76^th minute, a long throw in to the box was flicked on at the near post and the ball flew across the face of the goal and nestled in to the far corner of the Harvest net. Carluke saw this as an opportunity to get back in to the game and they pressed forward looking for another goal. The Harvest defence were standing up to everything thrown at them and Carluke saw the long throw tactic as their only option to try and get more goals, but were denied by a combination of good defending and 2 great saves by Shug in the Harvest goal. A long throw in to the near post was head flicked on in to the path of a Carluke midfielder and as he ran on to the ball he hit a shot from about 12 yards out but Shug was down quick to block with his legs and the danger was cleared, Carluke’s second opportunity was again from a long throw which was again flicked on at the near post and as the ball looked to be heading goal ward Shug was up to tip the goal bound effort over the bar. As the game drew to a close Harvest did their best to keep the ball in the Carluke half and had the ball in the net again, but the referee some how had judged that Davy had pulled the shirt of the defender when in fact it was the defender who had pulled Davy’s shirt as he hooked the ball in to the net. Harvest were not to be denied a 4^th goal and in the final minutes of the game Harvest won a corner, the corner was taken short to Davy, Alex joined in and he and Davy exchanged a few one two’s before Alex took the ball for a wee run along the bye line beating 2 Carluke defenders in the process and cutting the ball back to Shanksy who was on hand to tap the ball in to the net to claim his hat-trick, Harvest’s 4^th goal and effectively end the game as a contest. Both teams then played out the last couple minutes and the game finished with a final score of Carluke 1-4 Hamilton Harvest.
What a performance guys, a great effort against a good team who before we got our hands on them were unbeaten in the league this season and who I think will still win the league. Every player played their part in this victory and although Alex was named man of the match I think anyone of the Harvest players could have been man of the match from Shug in goals who didn’t have a great deal to do but when called upon pulled of 2 great saves at a vital time in the match, Aiky & Omar on the left and right of defence who thwarted every attack down the flanks, Daryl in the centre of defence who had Carluke’s big striker in his back pocket for the entire game and Hawky who swept up the danger when the ball made it in to the area. Davy & Gareth who worked tirelessly up and down the left & right flanks to support the defenders and the attackers, Robert & Alex in the centre of midfield who bossed and controlled the game and to Shanksy & Tony who lead the attack and never gave the Carluke defenders a minutes peace. The way we played tonight should be a benchmark for future games and if we continue to play this way there won’t be many team’s who will be able to match us, let’s take this performance in to Saturday’s game against another good side (Greenbank) who are sitting 2^nd in the league. Once again well done.