Hamilton Harvest 3-1 Motherwell Kings
Date: 23-Aug-08
Competition: League
Scorers: David McKean, William McKean, Omar Patel
Man of the Match: David McKean
Match Report
Hamilton Harvest got their SECL 1st division campaign underway on Saturday 23-aug-08 against Motherwell Kings. Motherwell & Hamilton had competed with each other in Division 2 last season. Hamilton Harvest had taken 4 points out of a possible 6 against Motherwell Kings last season, however Motherwell handed out a 5-1 thrashing to Hamilton in the semi-final of the Billy Trophy so both teams new that this first game of the season was going to be tough.
Hamilton lined up in a 4-4-2 formation with Dave Lowe in goals, right to left in defence was Daryl, Hammy, Gizzy & Aiky, right to left in midfield was Muggy, Paul, Omar & Shanksy and up front was David & William McKean. Shug, Yusef, Hawky & Gareth started on the bench.
The game started with lots of play in the midfield and little in the way of goal mouth action. The first notable action came when a 50-50 ball in the Motherwell Kings penalty area resulted in a clash between David & the goalkeeper, there was a wee bit of afters which resulted in the Motherwell goalkeeper picking up a booking. Hamilton Harvest were digging in and closing Motherwell Kings down in all areas of the field. Most of Hamilton good work was coming down the right with Daryl linking up well with Muggy, and William making good runs behind the defence, however the final ball wasn’t quite there and the Motherwell Kings defence were coping well.
Motherwell Kings then had 3 great chances to take the lead, the first 2 were longs ball over the top of the Hamilton defence, however on both occasions when the striker was one on one with the Hamilton goalkeeper he couldn’t finish and dragged his shots by the post. The 3rd attempt was more clear cut, Hammy attempted to clear the ball from defence but it cannoned of the striker and he go the break of the ball, once again he was one on one with the Hamilton goalkeeper and once again his shot went harmlessly past the post.
Chances were being created at both ends and Hamilton took the lead in the 38th minute. Hamilton had won a corner on the right, Shanksy went across to take it and delivered a delightful ball right to the back post, David McKean was there to rise above the Motherwell defence and bullet his header past the goal keeper and in to the net. There was no further action in the first half and Hamilton Harvest went in at half time leading 1-0.
The 2nd half started with Hamilton Harvest on the back foot as Motherwell Kings sought an equalizer, however the Hamilton back line held strong and any chance Motherwell had were snuffed out. Motherwell’s desperation for an equalizer left a few gaps at the back and Hamilton exploited this and increased their lead in the 63rd minute when William latched on to t through ball from David and as the goalkeeper advanced William slotted the ball underneath him from 16 yards out and the ball nestled nicely in to the bottom corner of the net. William had worked hard and thoroughly deserved his goal.
Hamilton Harvest then made their 1st substitution with Hawky coming on for Aiky at left back, Aiky had worked hard at left back and deserved his rest. The game was now very competitive and both teams were contributing to a great game. Motherwell Kings continued to press for the goal that would bring them back in to the game and the Hamilton Harvest defence was being pushed further and further back, but once again the defence was solid and Motherwell chances were limited to a few long range efforts which rolled harmlessly through to Dave Lowe in the Hamilton goal.
Motherwell eventually got their reward in the 75th minute when a ball delivered in to the Hamilton box from the right found Joe Dickson standing all alone in the 6 yard box and he rose to head the ball passed Dave Lowe in to the net, Dave tried desperately to scramble the ball away but the header was too powerful and Motherwell had the goal they had craved. Hamilton Harvest had to dig deep and more superb defending kept the score at 2-1.
Motherwell Kings then had a great chance to equalize with a great run and shot from their midfielder was heading for the top corner but Dave Lowe done brilliantly to get across and tip the goal bound effort over the bar. Hamilton were then forced in to another change when Paul Rollo had to be replaced due to injury. Muggy moved from the right in to the centre and Gareth came on and slotted in to right midfield.
Hamilton Harvest made the game safe in the 85th minute when Omar made it 3-1, those of us who saw his goal 2 weeks ago against St.Silas thought that he wouldn’t be able to top that goal, but this one was straight from the top drawer and is already a contender for goal of the season. The ball was flighted in to the Motherwell box, but was only half cleared, as the ball fell out of the sky Omar ran on to it and smacked it on the volley from about 25 yards straight in to the top left hand corner. A great goal which would have graced any game, if Ronaldo or Rooney had scored a goal like this the Sky Sports team would be talking about it for weeks. Well done wee man you took a gamble and it paid off.
Hamilton then made another change when Yusef came on for Muggy, Muggy had run his socks of for the entire game and Yusef came on and sat just in front of the back four to sure up the defence. Hamilton could have increased their lead in the dying minutes when David received a long ball and bore down on goal, when one on one with the keeper he drilled his shot low to the goalkeepers right, but the Motherwell keeper got down well to turn his shot round the post.
That was the last of the action and the game finished Hamilton Harvest 3-1 Motherwell Kings. A great victory against a well organized Motherwell side who more than played their part in what was a great advert for the Churches league. I’m sure if both teams play the rest of the season the way they played today they will both do well and will certainly not look out of place in the 1st division.
Well done today guys a great effort from everyone lets take this performance and build on it next week.