Date: 17-Feb-09
Competition: League
Scorers: William McKean (2), David McKean
Man of the Match: Alex Dick
Match Report:
Hamilton Harvest lost out to Glasgow Nazarene on Tuesday after conceding another late goal. Harvest lined up in a 4-4-2 formation with Shug in goals, right to left in defense was Andy (making his debut), Hammy, Gizzy & Hawky, right to left in midfield was Daryl, Omar, Paul & Shanksy and up front was William & Alex. Davy McKean, Yos, Essien & Derek were on the bench. The game started with Nazarene on the attack and a snap shot from the edge of the area in the first few seconds of the game was turned round the post by Shug. It was from this corner that Nazarene took the lead, the corner was taken short and with the Harvest defence still organizing themselves the ball was lofted in to the area and the Nazarene players header looped over Shug in to the net. With the game barley a minute old Harvest found themselves 1-0 down. From the re-start Harvest dominated the play, the passing was superb and some of the plays were exciting to watch however at time the final ball wasn’t right or when a chance did present its self the Nazarene keeper or the defence were equal to it. Harvest eventually got the goal their possession deserved in the 25^th minute, a through ball to William saw him bear down on the keeper, a combination of goal keeper and defender manages to snuff out the danger as all went hurtling to the deck, however as William tried to get up to collect the rebound the defender on the floor held him back and the referee awarded the penalty. William got up dusted himself down and slotted the penalty in to the bottom corner. Harvest continued to dominate the remainder of the half, but such as our luck is at the moment it was Nazarene who snatched the lead just before half time with only their 3^rd attack of the game. Their defender was allowed to pick the ball up on the halfway line ease past 3 players and loft the ball over the Harvest defense, there was a slight suspicion that the Nazarene forward was offside, however the ref let play continue and the striker lifted the ball over the advancing Shug from the edge of the area. There was no other scoring in the first half and Harvest were bemused at how they were 2-1 down after dominating so much of the first half.
Harvest were forced in to a change at half time, due to injury Andy had to come off, therefore Daryl dropped in to right back and Davy came on at right midfield. The second half started in the same way the first ended with Harvest in the ascendancy, but the Nazarene defence and keeper stood up to everything that came their way. Nazarene were hitting Harvest on the break and with the pace they had on the wings and up front they were causing some problems. A long ball diagonal ball out of defence found the feet of the Nazarene striker he advanced down the Harvest right and squared the ball across the box, once again there was a very strong suspicion that the player in the middle was offside but with the ref struggling to keep up with the play he allowed play to continue and as the player took a touch to get the ball out of his feet Hawky came in and challenged him, as the player fell under Hawky’s challenge the referee awarded a penalty. Harvest were aggrieved by this as the player was clearly offside and Hawky appeared to win the ball in the challenge, despite the protest the ref stood by his decision and in the process booked Hammy for dissent. The Nazarene defender stepped up and sent Shug the wrong was as he slammed the ball in to the bottom right hand corner. Once again Harvest didn’t let their heads go down and continued to press forward in search for a way back in to the game. They eventually broke down the Nazarene defence in the 75^th minute when a dangerous corner from Shanksy wasn’t properly cleared and Davy popped up at the edge of the 6 yard box to fire the ball past the keeper in to the net. Harvest then made their second substitution when Yos came on at left back to replace Hawky. Harvest once again pushed forward looking for an equalizer and it came via the penalty spot in the 80^th minute. Alex picked the ball up and drove into the penalty area skipping past challenge after challenge, eventually the Nazarene defence did stop him by brining him down and the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Once again William took the spot kick and dispatched the ball in to the bottom corner to make the score 3-3. With the score level Derek was brought on in place of Omar in the centre of midfield after Omar had picked up a slight knock. The point which was the least that Harvest deserved after all their perseverance and hard work was cruelly snatched away in the final minutes, once again a defender picked up the ball and advanced forward unchallenged, he then played the ball forward to the striker at the edge of the area who was in line with the back four, the striker first touch got the ball out of his feet and he fired the ball past the advancing Shug in to the net. With only a minute or so remaining Harvest had no time left to get another equalizer and the game finished 4-3 to Nazarene.
For the second game in a row Harvest had fought hard and dominated most of the play, doing well to get back in to both matches when most teams may have given up only to have the points snatched away in the final minutes. This game was one which Harvest should have won, but unfortunately we can’t seem to get our noses in front or hold out until the final whistle. Guys we are playing some good football and scoring goals and I’m sure if we keep believing in ourselves and each other and start being a little more ruthless during matches in everything we do we will start winning games again.