Date: 09-Aug-08
Competition: Friendly
Scorers: William McKean (4), Davy McKean, Gary Kelly, Omar Patel
Match Report
Hamilton Harvest continued their pre-season preparations with a convincing 7-2 win over St Silas. Hamilton lined up in a 4-4-2 formation with Dave Lowe in goals, right to left in defence was Shug, Hammy, Tony & Hawky, right to left in midfield was Yusef, Omar, Gary Kelly & Shanksy and the forward line consisted of Davy & William McKean. Aiky & Gareth started on the bench.
The game started with Hamilton on the attack and some great passing & movement had the St Silas defence on the back foot. Hamilton were rewarded for their sharpness after just 4 minutes when some quick passes were exchanged between Shanksy & Davy McKean, Davy’s quick feet had the defender in knots and as Davy skipped away from the defender he was hacked down in the penalty box, the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot and William McKean stepped up to slam the ball high in to the top left hand corner.
Hamilton lead lasted only 4 minutes when a corner on the St Silas right was floated in to the box & the St Silas forward climbed above Hammy to bullet his header past Dave Lowe & into the top right hand corner of the goal. Hamilton still looked the sharper team & Hawky was linking up well with Shanksy on the left & with the runs of Davy & William up front plenty chances were being created. Hamilton regained the lead on 20 minutes when good work down the right wing by William resulted in a low cross being whipped in to the box, as Yusef challenged the keeper for the ball it broke to Davy McKean and he slotted the ball in to the bottom corner from 16 yards out.
Hamilton were now full of confidence and the passing all over the park was good, with the defence linking well with the midfield & the midfield linking well with the forwards. Hamilton were then denied another stone wall penalty when once again Davy’s trickery had the defender on the back foot and as he went passed the defender in to the penalty area, he was again hacked down, however the referee had judged that Davy had dived and waved away the penalty appeals much to the relief of the St Silas players.
It did not take long for Hamilton to increase their lead to 3-1, Davy McKean picked up the ball just inside the St Silas half, he played a delightful diagonal ball over the last defenders head to the onrushing William McKean, as the ball dropped William volleyed in to the net from about 18 yards out. Hamilton could have increased their lead even further before the break when another long ball over the top of the St Silas was met by William & his header looped over the keeper in to the net, however the referee disallowed the goal for offside, despite the protests of the Hamilton players. There was no other major action in the first half & Hamilton went in at half time leading 3-1.
The 2^nd half was only 3 minutes old when Hamilton increased their lead to 4-1, good work down the Hamilton right saw the ball flashed across the face of goal and Gary Kelly was on hand at the back post to slam the ball in to the net. St Silas then got a grip on the game and dominated for the next 15 minutes as Hamilton couldn’t get a foot on the ball. Good passing and a lack of marking allowed St Silas back in to the game and their hard work was rewarded when they got a goal back, quick passing saw the striker with space at the edge of the 18 yard box and he fired his shot low passed Dave Lowe in to the bottom corner.
Hamilton got a grip of the game after that and returned to passing the ball to one another. The quickness & movement on the left by shanksy and by Davy & William up front were causing the St Silas defence all sorts of problems. Hamilton made it 5-2 after 72 minutes when a good ball out of midfield had Yusef chasing the ball down the right hand side, Yusef took a touch and then swung in a great cross which was met by the head of William McKean, whose bullet header flew past the keeper in to the net.
Hamilton then made a change when Aiky replaced Hawky at left back, Hawky had worked hard and linked up well with Shanksy on the left and deserved his wee rest. In the 80^th minute Hamilton increased their lead to 6-2 when good work down the left saw Aiky swinging in a cross, however he sliced it (he said deliberately, but the rest of the team weren’t convinced), the cross had the keeper back pedalling and when the ball came back of the crossbar William McKean was in the right place at the right time to fire the ball in to the net from close range.
St Silas nearly nicked another goal when Hamilton couldn’t clear their lines and when the ball dropped to the St Silas midfielder his rasping drive came back off the base of the post and was hacked away to safety. Hamilton were well in control of the game by now and had saved the best goal until last. Omar had made a rare venture in to the final 1/3 of the field and got his reward when the ball broke to the 18 yard line and he hit a great shot which flew past the keeper in to the net. Omar commented after the game that that was his first goal in about 12 years, I don’t think there will be many of the team that played today around in 12 years time to see his next goal.
That was the end of the scoring and the game finished 7-2. Words don’t do justice to some of the play and all of the goals, they were all well worked and every player worked hard. Everyone including the guys shouting at the side of the park (Davy McKean Snr) played their part in this victory, Dave Lowe didn’t have much to do in goals, but when called upon was alert & sharp, the defence was solid with Hammy & Tony picking everything up in the centre and Shug & Hawky handling everything that was coming down the wings. The midfield was superb with Gary Kelly & Omar controlling everything in the middle and Shanksy & Yusef working hard up & down the wings. The forwards were clinical, Davy’s skill & quick feet and William’s movement off the ball had the St Silas defence in knots.
Well done to all the lads especially William who scored 4 goals and his first hat-trick for Hamilton, lets hope there are many more hat-tricks on the way. Here’s hoping we can take confidence from that game & take that performance in to our next game. Final Score Hamilton Harvest 7-2 St Silas.