Date:21-Feb-09
Competition: League
Scorers: David McKean, Graham Shanks
Man of the Match: Alex Dick
Match Report:
Hamilton Harvest travelled down the M8 on Saturday to Park Lea to take on Port Glasgow. Harvest lined up in a 4-4-2 formation, with Dave Lowe still absent from the squad Shug deputised in goals again, right to left in defence was Yos, Hammy, Omar & Hawky, right to left in midfield was Muggy, Paul, Rab & Shanksy and leading the attack was Alex & Davy, Andy started the game on the bench. On a poor red ash pitch and with the wind swirling around there wasn’t a lot of pretty football being played, however Harvest were showing a bit of dig which has been lacking in the last few weeks and weren’t giving Port a second on the ball. The game was played mainly in the midfield and chances at either end were limited to a few long balls which were dealt with comfortable by both defences. Harvest eventually made the breakthrough on the half hour, a long ball out of defence didn’t seem too dangerous, but as Alex chased the ball into the box a mix up between the Port defender and goalkeeper saw the ball break to Davy and he slotted the ball in to the bottom corner from about 12 yards. With the wind behind them Harvest went looking for a second and it nearly came after good work down the right saw the ball fired across the face of goal but no one was on hand to put the ball in the net. Port were limited to just a few attacks as every ball played forward in the air was held up by the wind and dealt with by the Harvest defence. Port did have one clear cut opportunity a through ball on the left found the feet of the Port striker and he drove toward the goal, however Shug done well to save the shot with his feet and from the resulting corner the danger was cleared. No further action in the first half meant that Harvest went in 1-0 up.
Port Glasgow kicked off the second half with the wind at their backs and tried to push forward to find a goal that would bring them back in to the game. Harvest were now starting to panic a wee bit and a few loose passes resulted in increased pressure on the back 4. Port did find a way back in to the game midway through the 2^nd half, Shanksy was dispossessed on the left hand side, the Port midfielder swung the cross in to the box and as Hammy, Shug and a Port Glasgow midfielder all went for the same ball the ball glanced of the head of the Port player and bobbled it’s way in to the bottom corner to make it 1-1. Harvest then found themselves 2-1 down just a few minutes later when more slack play in the midfield presented Port with the ball, this time they used the wind to loft the ball over the Harvest defence to the feet of the Port striker, who thumped the ball past the advancing Shug from the 18 yard line. Harvest were still in the game and they continued to press for an equalizer but on many occasions the final ball wasn’t quite there or the ball ran through to the keeper. Harvest then made a change when Andy came on for Muggy, Davy dropped back to right midfield and Andy went up front to play alongside Alex. Harvest continued to press for an equalizer and they got their reward in the 75^th minute, a free kick by Hawky on the Harvest left was swung into the 6 yard box, the ball was allowed to go all the way through to the back post and as Paul was poised on the edge of the 6 yard box to fire the ball into the net a Port defender came crashing into the back of him and the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot. Shanksy stepped up and sent the keeper the wrong way as he fired the ball into the bottom right hand corner via the inside of the post to make the score 2-2. There wasn’t a great deal of goal mount action at either end after that and the referee blew the final whistle with the score at 2-2.
Well done today guys, a decent point from a game played in terrible conditions and on such a poor surface. Well done to Davy & Shanksy who both got their name on the score sheet and well done to Alex who picked up the man of the match award (again). This week we showed a wee bit more grit and determination and didn’t let Port settle in to the game, let’s keep that up for the rest of the season, now we need to work on not giving the ball away in critical areas of the field. We’ve taken 4 points out of a possible 6 from Port Glasgow this season and there won’t be many teams in the league who have done that so well done. Rest up ready for next week.