Date: 01-Nov-08
Competition: League
Scorers: Graham Shanks (3), Davy McKean, Alex Dick
Man of the Match: Graham Shanks
Match Report:
Hamilton Harvest travelled to Netherpollock playing fields on Saturday to take on Findlaydale in a rearranged fixture after the original game was postponed. With the exception of Hammy Harvest stuck with the same team that won the last game with Dave Lowe in goals, right to left in defence was Yusef, Hammy, Shug & Aiky, right to left in midfield was Davy, Omar, Paul & Hawky and in attack was Alex & Shanksy. Daryl, Tony & Gizzy started on the bench.
Findlaydale opened the scoring in the 6^th minute when a quick free kick was played in to the box and with the Harvest defence still trying to organize themselves the ball was met by the head of the Findlaydale striker and his header flew past Dave Lowe in to the net. Despite this early set back Harvest knew there was plenty of time to get back in to the game and the equalizer came in the 15^th minute. The ball broke to Shanksy on the left and Shanksy done what he does best and ran at the Findlaydale back line, his close control and speed took him past the right back and he fired his shot across the keeper in to the bottom right hand corner. The next opportunity fell to Findlaydale, a long throw in into the Harvest penalty area was only partially cleared, the ball fell to a Findalydale player whose shot looked to be goal bound, however Shug was in the right place to clear the ball of the line. Harvest then took the lead in the 22^nd minute, when a ball played forward by Findlaydale was cut out by Hammy midway inside the Harvest half, after bringing the ball down on his chest Hammy played a long diagonal ball to the edge of the Findlaydale penalty area to Davy McKean, Davy let the ball bounce and then smacked it from the edge of the 18 yard box over the keeper and in to the top left hand corner. Harvest were now in the ascendancy and increased their lead in the 37^th minute, Harvest won a free kick midway inside their own half on the left hand side of the field, Hammy flighted the ball to the back post, Paul rose above the Findlaydale defence and headed the ball goalwards, the Findalydale keeper got a hand to the ball but only preceded to palm the ball upwards and when the ball dropped Alex was on in the right place at the right time to tap the ball in from 2 yards out. No further action in the first half meant that Harvest went in at half time with a deserved 3-1 lead.
The 2^nd half was a scrappy affair and most of the play was confined to midfield as Findlaydale tried to find a way back in to the game, and although Harvest rode their luck at time the Findlaydale attacks continued to be thwarted. Findlaydale did have a couple of clear cut chance and Dave Lowe had to be alert to save low to his left after the Findalydale striker found space in the box to turn and fire a shot goal bound. Harvest then made their first substitution when Daryl came on to replace Yusef at right back. Findlaydale then passed up another opportunity when a goal mouth scramble resulted in the ball falling to the unmarked Findlaydale striker at the back post, but he couldn’t connect with the ball and the danger was cleared. Harvest then had an opportunity to increase their lead when a free kick in to the Findlaydale penalty area was deflected in to the path of Daryl at the back post but from close range Daryl blasted his shot over the bar. Harvest then made a further 2 changes when Tony came on to replace Aiky in the 70^th minute, Tony went to left midfield and Hawky dropped back to left back and Gizzy came on for Davy in right midfield. Harvest made the points and the game safe 6 minutes from time when Tony won the ball on the left, played it to Shanksy, once again he ran at the Findlaydale defence as he had been doing all day and fired his shot low past the keeper to make the score 4-1. There was still time for Harvest to grab another goal and it came in the 88^th minute via the penalty spot, there seemed little danger when the ball was played forward the Findlaydale keeper came to the edge of his area to collect the ball but hesitated as he waited for the ball to come in to the penalty area before he picked it up, with the ball there to be won Alex challenged for the ball as the keeper went to pick it up, this angered the keeper and he kicked out at Alex, and the referee awarded Harvest a penalty, this moment of madness from the Findlaydale keeper also earned him booking. Shanksy took the spot kick and buried it past the keeper low in to the bottom right hand corner to complete his hat-trick and the game ended 5-1 to Harvest.
Well done today guys once again everyone involved played their part. A great 1^st half performance with some great football and some great goals on display, and although it may have been a scrappy second half we dug deep and defended well and thoroughly deserved the win. Well done to Shanksy who scored a hat-trick and was named the man of the match. This win moved Harvest up the league table to 4^th place, 2 points behind the leaders Greenbank BB. Let’s keep up the good work guys and build on this next week.