Date: 27-Sep-08
Competition: Fraser Trophy (Rd 1)
Scorers: Willian McKean (3), Alex Dick, Graham Shanks, Paul Rollo, Yusef Patel
Man of the Match: William McKean
Match Report:
Hamilton Harvest travelled down the M8 to Parklea on Saturday to take on 2^nd division Greenock Elim in the 1^st round of the Fraser Trophy. Harvest lined up in a 4-4-2 formation with Dave Lowe in goals, right to left in defence was Daryl, Tony, Shug & Hawky, right to left in midfield was Davy, Paul, Omar & Shanksy and William & Alex were paired up front.
Harvest started well and took the lead in the 12^th minute, Shanksy found space on the left and played a neat ball into the opposition penalty area, just as it looked as if the keeper would collect comfortably, William nicked in behind the defence and in front of the keeper to prod the ball in to the bottom corner. Harvest then doubled their lead on the half hour, once again Shanksy found space on the left, he played the ball inside to Davy, who split the defence with a great through ball which found Alex who made no mistake as he fired the ball across the goal keeper and of the inside of the post in to the net. Harvest were now in control of the game and scored their 3^rd goal in the 42^nd minute, a long ball was played forward to Shanksy who headed the ball past the Greenock right back and as the ball sat up he unleashed a powerful left foot volley which flew over the goal keeper in to the net. No further goal mouth action in the 1^st half saw Harvest go in at the break 3-0 up.
The 2^nd half started with Greenock Elim on the attack as they tried to find a way back in to the game but every attack was thwarted by the Harvest defence and in fact it was Harvest who scored a 4^th goal in the 58^th minute, a ball forward to Davy who was midway inside the opposition half was cushioned in to the path of Paul who from 35 yards unleashed a powerful volley which dipped over the keeper in to the net. Harvest were now in the ascendancy and scored a 5^th in the 69^th minute, as Greenock pressed forward possession was won by Harvest, a quick pass to Alex saw him feed the ball through to William who slotted the ball under the on rushing keeper from about 16 yards. Harvest then made their first substitution whit Yusef replacing Paul who had picked up a knock in the first half and it was Yusef who scored Harvest’s 6^th goal, a quick corner from Shanksy to Hawky resulted in the ball being crossed in to the Greenock penalty area and as the ball dropped Yusef turned and swept his shot in to the bottom corner.
Greenock Elim were still making a game of it and continued to push forward in search of a goal and Dave Lowe who had nothing much to do for long periods had to be sharp on 2 occasions to preserve his clean sheet, pulling off good saves from 2 headers. Harvest then scored their 7^th and the final goal of the game 6 minutes from time, a ball forward was controlled by Alex who turned and found himself with space, as he advanced towards goal he unleashed a shot from 20 yards, however the keeper could only parry the shot in to the path of William who fired the ball in to the net to complete a well deserved hat-trick. Both teams played out the remainder of the game with no further goals and the match finished with Harvest running out 7-0 winners.
A great performance today guys, from defence to attack every player deserves credit for what was a good win and a solid performance, it was also nice to get our first clean sheet of the season. Well done to all the guys who scored today, there were a few contenders for goal of the season in there, and a special mention to William McKean who scored his 2^nd hat-trick in a Harvest jersey and also picked up the Man of the Match award. Let’s take confidence from today’s win and take it forward in to the next league game. Our reward for progressing through to round 2 is another away trip on the 18^th October this time to face Trinity Possil.