Date: 13-Sep-08
Competition: League
Scorers: Alex Dick (3), Paul Rollo
Man of the Match: Paul Rollo
Match Report:
Hamilton Harvest picked up their second win of the season against Victoria Croftfoot at the Palace grounds on Saturday. Harvest lined up in a 4-4-2 formation, Dave Lowe returned in goal, right to left in defence was Shug, Hammy, Gizzy, and Hawky, right to left in midfield was Gareth, Davy, Paul & Shanksy and in attack William and Alex were paired together. Gary Kelly and an half fit Aiky was on the bench. Harvest got of to the perfect start when they took the lead inside the first minute, Alex latched on to a long ball and bore down on goal, as the keeper advanced Alex fired his shot in to the top right hand corner. Harvest then had an opportunity to increase their lead a few minutes later when good work by Alex in the opposition half gave him time to pass the ball across the 18 yard box in to the path of Shug who hit a fierce drive which flew just over the bar. Victoria got back in to the game on the half hour when good work by their midfielder was rewarded when a neat reverse pass split the defence and the striker placed his shot in to the bottom corner despite Dave getting a hand to the shot. Victoria were now lifted by the goal and put Harvest under a bit of pressure as they pressed for a second, but any danger was snuffed out by the Harvest defence. Harvest then regained the lead 2 minutes before half time, good work on the edge of the box by Paul and William saw the ball slipped through to Alex and from 12 yards out Alex calmly placed the ball passed the keeper in to the bottom right hand corner. Right on half time Alex had the opportunity to complete his hat-trick but when faced one on one with the keeper he hit his shot straight at the keeper who collected comfortably. No further action in the 1^st half saw Harvest go in at half time with a deserved 2-1 lead.

The 2^nd half was dominated by Harvest and chance upon chance came and went with no reward. Harvest were playing some superb flowing football but when faced with a shot at goal a combination of poor finishing, the crossbar and the goal keeper kept the score at 2-1. Harvest then had 2 goals disallowed, the first was a pass back to the goal keeper which was chased down by William, as the keeper came out to clear, the ball hit William at close range on the chest and as the ball broke William slotted the loose ball in to the net, however the referee had judged that William had blocked the ball with his hand and awarded Victoria the free kick. The 2^nd goal was disallowed for offside, after a great ball round the corner from Alex was latched on to by William, once again as William fired the ball in to the net the referee pulled the play back and awarded Victoria the free kick. Harvest were a bit aggrieved at these decisions as both goals looked legitimate. Harvest were made to pay for their missed opportunities when Victoria snatched an equalizer in the 80^th minute, after being 2^nd best for long periods of the 2^nd half Victoria still looked dangerous on the break, their forward were working very hard up front and a ball in to the Harvest box bobbled around and as Hammy and Gizzy both attempted to clear the Victoria striker was on hand to toe pock the ball under Dave from about 5 yards. Despite this set back Harvest dug deep and continued to work hard and press for the winner, they were rewarded in the 88^th minute when Alex completed his hat-trick. The ball was played forward to William on the edge of the box, with his back to goal he played the ball first time to his right in to the path of Alex who this time made no mistake as he riffled the ball past the keeper in to the net. The goal had certainly knocked the wind out of the seals of the Victoria players and Harvest got a 4^th goal in the 91^st minute, a free kick was won about 25 yards from goal and like last week Paul stepped up to place the ball low past the wall and the keeper in to the bottom right hand corner of the net. The game was now over as a contest and the referee blew the final whistle and the 3 points went the way of Harvest.

Well done today guys despite a lot of missed chances we never let the heads go down and we got our reward. A good solid performance from everyone and a great victory. A special mention to Alex Dick who scored what we hope will be the first of many hat-tricks in a Harvest shirt. A special mention also to Paul Rollo who was awarded the man of the match award. Let’s take this performance forward and build on it next week.