Date: 26-Jul-08
Competition: Friendly
Scorer: William Mckean
Match Report
Hamilton Harvest got their pre-season underway at tullyallan on Saturday 26^th July with a narrow 2-1 defeat to ICC. The team lined up with a 4-4-1-1 formation. In goals was Dave Lowe, left to right in defence was Alan Aikman, Daryl Logie, Brian Hamilton & Hugh Edwards, left to right in midfield was Gary Kelly, Paul Rollo, Omar Patel & Graham McDonald and in attack was Graham Mulligan playing just behind William McKean. Yusef Patel & John Hawkins started on the bench.
The game started with both teams sharing possession, however no clear cut chances were created and most of the play was in midfield. Hamilton were competing well with the two time SECL 1^st division winners and took the lead midway through the first half. The ball was picked up in the centre circle by Paul Rollo, he passed the ball out to the right flank to Graham McDonald who ran at the ICC left back, and he took the ball down the wing and whipped in a low cross. Graham Mulligan an ICC defender and the ICC goalie all went for the same ball and when the goal keeper failed to collect the ball it broke to William McKean who had the simple task of tapping the ball in to the empty net from 6 yards out.
Hamilton then had a great opportunity to go 2 goals up when a quick interchange between Paul Rollo and William McKean on the edge of the ICC 18 yard line presented William with a clear shot at goal but he fired his shot straight at the GK who collected comfortably. ICC did have an opportunity to draw level before half time when a cross in to the Hamilton box was only partially cleared and when the ball broke to the edge of the area an ICC midfielder crashed his shot against the cross bar. That was the last action of the half and Hamilton went in 1-0 up at the break.
The 2^nd half started with ICC dominating the early stages as they pressed for an equalizer, Hamilton attacks were limited to s few long balls up to the strikers who were getting little joy out of a large ICC defence. Midway through the 2^nd half ICC got their equalizer. A ball down the ICC left resulted in a low cross which flashed across the Hamilton 6 yard box and the ICC striker pounced to smash the ball in off the underside of the crossbar. Hamilton then made a few changes with Yusef Patel and John Hawkins replacing Alan Aikman & Gary Kelly. From the kick off Hamilton had an opportunity to regain the lead, a long ball over the top of the ICC defence was chased by William McKean, the ICC keeper came rushing out, with the ball there to win, William clashed with the keeper, as the ball broke and before it could be put in to the net the referee awarded ICC the free kick for a foul on the keeper.
ICC continued to press forward for a 2^nd and their hard work was rewarded when a loose ball by Hamilton was picked up on the ICC left, a quick exchange of passes resulted in ICC’s left midfielder taking the ball down the wing and whipping in a cross which was met at the back post by the on-coming ICC midfielder who volleyed the ball back across the goal, the ball hit the inside of the post and nestled in to the bottom corner. With 10 minutes remaining Hamilton pushed forward looking for an equalizer and a couple of chances went a stray, good work down the right on both occasions by Graham McDonald resulted in crosses being flashed across the ICC box, the 1^st of which was cut out by the ICC defender and the 2^nd just being too far in front of Graham Mulligan who stretched for the ball but could not connect.
As Hamilton were pushing for an equalizer there were a few gaps being left at the back and ICC nearly capitalized when a cross was fired in to the box, the ICC striker nodded the ball back in to the path of an on rushing team mate and from about 12 yards a fierce shot was fired goal bound, however the Hamilton goalie Dave Lowe got down brilliantly to turn a goal bound effort round the post. That was the last action of the match and the referee blew the final whistle with the score 2-1 to ICC.
A disappointing result for Hamilton but not a disappointing performance, Hamilton competed well and lead for a long period of time against a good and organized ICC team, who as previously stated had won the Strathclyde Evangelical Churches League 1^st division title 2 years in a row in 2006 & 2007 and were runners up in 2008. This game was a good test for Hamilton who are now confident that they can compete with the teams in the SECL 1^st division.
Hamilton Harvest would like to take this opportunity to thank ICC for their hospitality and wish them much success as they look forward to a new season in a different amateur league. To the Hamilton Harvest boys well done today, it was a tough 1^st game back, hope the muscles are not too sore and hopefully our next game will provide us with a win.