Date: 30-May-09
Competition: League
Scorers: William McKean (2), Graham Shanks
Man of the Match: Graham Shanks
Match Report:
Hamilton Harvest finished the 2008/2009 season in winning form after a deserved win over Findlaydale on Saturday. Harvest lined up in a 4-4-2 formation with Shug in goals, right to left in defence was Andy, Omar, Hawky & Aiky, right to left in midfield was Davy, Rab, Alex & Shanksy with William & Paul leading the attack, Hammy started the game from the side lines as he tried his hand a management. The game started with Findlaydale on the attack but the end result was a shot that flew over the Harvest bar. From the bye kick Harvest went on the attack when Alex found Davy on the right hand side of the Findlaydale area but Davy screwed his shot wide of goal. Findlaydale then took the lead, a corner was swung in to the near post where a Findlaydale player flicked the ball on and a very gracious team mate was all alone about 12 yards from goal and hooked the ball past Shug in to the top left hand corner to make it 1-0. Findlaydale then grabbed a second goal about 5 minutes later, the ball was picked up in midfield, the play was then spread wide to the Findlaydale right winger who swung in a cross, Shug came from his goal and got fingertips to the cross which took it away from the waiting strikers head, however as the ball dropped to the back post another Findlaydale was waiting to head the ball in to the net from 5 yards out to make it 2-0. For the remaining 30 minutes of the first half Harvest dominated possession as they tried to get back in to the game. Chance upon chance came and went with no reward, the closest Harvest came to a goal was when William collected the ball on the right squared it to Paul in the centre, Paul’s initial shot was blocked and as the ball fell to Shanksy he fired a shot which looked a certain goal, however the Findlaydale keeper got across his goal well and finger tipped the effort over the bar. Shanksy also had a couple of free kicks that came desperately close as well, however a combination of desperate defending and good goal keeping kept the score at 2-0 at half time.
Hammy replaced Aiky at half time, resulting in Hawky going to left back and Hammy slotting in to the centre of midfield. The second half started much the same way as the first finished with Harvest on the attack as they looked for a way back in to the game, with Harvest pushing forward Findlaydale were looking to exploit the gaps at the back and with a quick forward line they were dangerous on the break, but Harvest were able to get bodies behind the ball quickly and snuff out any danger. Harvest continued to press and press and eventually they got the break through, Davy picked the ball up on the Harvest right, played a great through ball to William in the Findlaydale area, and after a good first touch to set himself William drilled the ball across the keeper in to the far left corner to make the score 2-1. That was the break through that Harvest were looking for and they kept up the relentless pace of the game with further attacks and with Rab & Alex pulling the strings in midfield and the pace of  Shanksy, Davy, Paul and William Harvest were causing the Findlaydale back line problems. Harvest continued to push forward looking for an equalizer and were again denied on several occasions by the Findalydale goalkeeper and some desperate defending. Harvest then got a well deserved equalizer and it was certainly worth the wait, Shanksy nicked the ball of the toes of Hammy on the Harvest left just as Hammy was thinking about a venture forward, Shanksy ran with the ball skipping past challenge after challenge as he made a diagonal run in to the Findlaydale box, he then unleashed a powerful shot which flew past the keeper in to the net to make it 2-2. Harvest were now tiring a little as they had put so much in to the first 25 minutes of the 2^nd half in their efforts to get back in to the game, this tiredness let Findlaydale back in to the game as they now pressed as they tried to regain the lead. The Findlaydale right winger was tricky and was causing Harvest problems down their left hand side but at times the final ball wasn’t there or the danger was cleared. The game was now evenly balanced as both teams looked for a winner and both teams were attacking then defending as play swung from one end of the field to the other. Findlaydale had a great opportunity to regain the lead when the ball was played in behind Andy at right back straight to the feet of the midfielder but as he shot a goal Shug had narrowed the angle and blocked the shot with his legs. In the 80th minute Harvest took the lead they probably deserved after the amount of possession and chances they had, Shanksy flighted a corner in to the Findlaydale area which was only half cleared and as the ball fell to William about 15 yards out he fired the ball through a ruck of players in to the bottom corner of the net to make it 3-2 to Harvest. It was now the turn of Findlaydale to chase the game as they tried to get an equalizer and Shug was to deny Findlaydale for a second time when again the ball was played in behind the Harvest defence, once again the same midfielder collected the ball and once again Shug denied him as he saved the shot with his legs. In the dying minutes Findlaydale passes up the opportunity to nick a point, the ball was picked up by the tricky right winger after managing to keep the ball in on the touchline and riding a challenge from Hammy he squared the ball across the 6 yard box in to the path of an on rushing team mate who blazed his shot high over the bar from close range, in all fairness to the striker with the goal mouth being very hard underfoot the ball probably bobbled just as he was about to hit the shot. Both teams played out the remainder of the game with the last opportunity being a long range effort from Findlaydale that flew well over the bar and as the referee blew the final whistle it was Harvest who had ran out 3-2 winners.
Well done today guys it’s not easy task coming from 2 goals down, but we stuck in and kept creating lots of chance and had we taken half of them it could have been a more comfortable victory. Well done to William who scored 2 great goals and to Shansky for his solo effort and for picking up the Harvest man of the match award.