Date: 11-Apr-09
Competition: League
Scorers: Brian Hamilton
Man of the Match: Graham Shanks
Match Report:
Hamilton Harvest took on Motherwell Kings in a rearranged league fixture on Saturday. Both teams had picked up good results in recent weeks and were looking to continue that good form today. Harvest lined up in a 4-4-2 formation with Shug continuing in goals, right to left at the back was Omar, Daryl, Hawky & Aiky, right to left in midfield was Gareth, Alex, Hammy and Gizzy, Davy & Shanksy lead the attack.
Motherwell started the brighter and had the first chance when Colin Sharp hit the Harvest bye line and whipped in a dangerous cross, Paul Ferrie could only get a glancing header to the ball and it went harmlessly by the far post. Motherwell made the better start and looked hungrier than Harvest, and their early possession paid off when they took the lead on 20 minutes, Colin Sharp had been causing Harvest problems on the left and once again he got to the bye line and whipped in a low cross and as Hawky slid in to clear the ball it deflected off of him and nestled in the back of his own net to give Motherwell a 1-0 lead. Motherwell continued to press forward and Harvest were struggling to get a foot on the ball at times and anytime the ball was played forward the Motherwell defence dealt with any danger. Motherwell then increased their lead on the 30 minute mark, a corner was won on the Harvest left and when the ball was flighted in to the area Iain McPherson lost his man and rose to bullet his header past Shug and in to the net to make it 2-0. Harvest only had one clear cut effort in the first half and it came when a deep cross was played to the back post and Alex hit it first time, the Motherwell keeper done well to block the shot and as Alex tried to prod the rebound in to the net once again the keeper was down well to smother the ball on the goal line. There wasn’t a great deal of action in the remainder of the first half and the half finished with Motherwell leading 2-0.
The second half kicked off and both teams battled well and most of the play was confined to midfield and there was little in the way of clear cut chance as both defences coped with any attacks. Harvest were starting to come back in to the game and possession in the 2^nd half was shared but Harvest just couldn’t find a way through the Motherwell defence. The game then got a wee bit scrappy as a few niggling fouls by both teams broke up the play. Motherwell did have a chance to increase their lead when a quick free kick was played to a Motherwell player inside the Harvest area but as he tried to chip the ball in to the net Shug closed him down and made the save. Harvest then pulled a goal back when they won a free kick about 25 yards from goal, Shanksy stepped up and bent the ball round the wall and Hammy was in the right place to deflect the ball past the Motherwell keeper with is stomach and the ball nestled in to the net to make the score 2-1. Both teams pressed forward, Harvest looking for an equalizer and Motherwell looking to kill off the game but again both defences dealt with any danger. Harvest had one more opportunity to snatch a point right at the end of the game when another fierce Shanksy free kick was punched away by the Motherwell keeper and the danger was cleared. The referee then brought the game to a close and Motherwell picked up the 3 points with a 2-1 win.
Unlucky today guys, were weren’t really at the races in the first half and there was big improvement in the second and a few positives can be taken and we did beat them 1-0 in the second half so that’s got to count for something. Well done to Hammy’s belly who scored our goal and well done to Shanksy who was awarded the man of the match award. Let’s put this set back behind us and go out on Wednesday and rectify this result.
If you are going on Wednesday let Davy know and meet at Focus at 5:30pm or meet up at the Ballerup pitches at 6pm for a 6:30pm kick off.