Date: 23-May-09
Competition: Friendly
Scorers: Paul McDermott, William McKean, Graham Mulligan (2), John Barr, Alex Dick
Man of the Match: Daryl Logie
Match Report:
Hamilton Harvest took on Carfin Harp in a friendly match on Saturday afternoon and came away with a convincing victory. Harvest lined up in the usual 4-4-2 formation with Shug in goals, left to right in defence was Hawky, Hammy, Daryl & Andy, left to right in midfield was Shanksy, Alex, John (making his Harvest debut) & Muggy, Paul & William lead the attack, Aiky started on the bench. Harvest started the brighter of the two teams and took the lead in the 3^rd minute good work by Alex in midfield saw him pick Paul out with a defence splitting pass, Paul let the ball come across his body before calmly slotting the ball past the keeper to make it 1-0. Harvest kept up the pressure and increased their lead in the 8^th minute when Wullie made it 2-0, Paul picked up the ball and played it in to Wullie inside the Carfin area and as the keeper came rushing out Wullie chipped the ball over him in to the net as the keeper went to ground. Carfin then started to play some decent football as they passed the ball around well on what was a difficult surface, however for all their possession they couldn’t get the goal they were looking for as defence and goalkeeper stood up to the danger. At this stage of the game Carfin were starting to dominate possession, however Harvest were still dangerous and had the ball in the net again, however the referee chopped the goal of as Wullie was judged to be in an offside position when he put the ball in the net. Carfin then pulled a goal back the ball was played down the Carfin left and when the ball eventually feel to a Carfin striker at the back post he slotted the ball past Shug in to the net. Carfin tried to press forward looking for an equalizer and nearly got one when the ball fell to a Carfin striker in the box but as he hit his shot Shug dived to his right to collect the ball. Harvest then missed 3 great opportunities to put the game to bed in the first half as Paul & William squandered chances when faced with clear shots at goal. The remainder of the half was played out with neither team able to add to their goal tally and Harvest went in at half time 2-1 up.
At half time Harvest made a change, Aiky came on for Hammy, resulting in Hawky moving in to the centre of defence and Aiky slotting in at left back. Carfin came out in the second half looking for a second goal but the harvest defence was solid and mopped up just about everything Carfin threw at them and with Alex, John, Shanksy and Muggy in midfield and Paul & Wullie up front Harvest had pace to punish Carfin on the break. Harvest then increased their lead, a great cross field pass by Alex from left to right found Muggy in the Carfin box, as the keeper came out to narrow the angle, Muggy dinked it over his head and followed the ball and was left with the easy task of tapping the ball in to the empty net to make it 3-1. Despite being 3-1 down Carfin continued to press forward looking for another goal but despite some nice football the Harvest defence stood firm and Carfin were thwarted. Carfin grew increasingly frustrated as the failed to penetrate the Harvest defence and in pushing so many men forward they left gaps at the back which Harvest had the pace to exploit and on a few occasion Muggy and Shanksy, Wullie and Paul got in behind the Carfin defence but they couldn’t find a team mate with the final ball and the danger was cleared. Harvest then scored a 4^th goal in the 65^th minute, the ball found it’s way back to the Carfin keeper on the edge of his penalty area on the right hand side, however his clearance found John in the centre circle and with the keeper so far off his line John flighted the ball in to the net from the half way line. Carfin continued to press and were menacing going forward but once again the defence stood firm and when they did get shots on goal, Shug was down well to save with his legs on a couple of occasions. Harvest were playing well and managed to get the ball down and pass it around and everyone was putting in a superb shift and this hard work was rewarded with a 5^th goal in the 80^th minute, Andy picked up the ball just inside his own half on the Harvest right, he advanced in to the Carfin half and played a great through ball to Muggy, who fired the ball low past the keeper to make it 5-1. Despite being 5-1 down Carfin still pressed forward looking for surely what would be a consolation goal and nearly got one but when the striker was presented with a clear shot at goal Aiky made a superb challenge to thwart the striker and the danger was cleared. Harvest scored their 6^th and final goal in the dying minutes, Alex picked up the ball midway inside the Carfin half and managed to evade challenge after challenge has he made his way in to the Carfin box, he manages to evade one more challenge and smash the ball past the keeper to make it 6-1. With no further goal mouth action the game came to a close and Harvest ran out 6-1 winners.
Superb performance from everybody today we dug in and played as a team, the defence was solid and the midfield and forwards were brilliant and really ran the Carfin defence ragged with their movement and pace. Well done to the scorers, Paul, Wullie, Muggy, John & Alex. Everyone should be proud of their performance today and if we can carry that form in to next season we should do well.