Date: 16-Aug-08
Competition: Friendly
Scorers: Alex Dick (2), Graham Mulligan
Match Report
Hamilton Harvest completed their pre-season preparation with a victory over West Glasgow. Only 11 players were available for this friendly and the team lined up in a 4-4-2 formation. In goals was Dave Lowe, right to left in defence was Shug, Omar, Daryl & Aiky, right to left in midfield was Graeme Shaw, Gizzy, Paul & Muggy and up front was Davy McKean & Alex Dick.
The game started with Hamilton passing the ball about well and controlling the early stages of the game, however the final ball wasn’t quite there and there was very little goal mouth action. West Glasgow play in the 3^rd division of the SECL but this was no walk in the park for Hamilton and they found it hard to break the home defence. Hamilton then made a switch with Graeme Shaw dropping back in to the right back position and Shug moving up to right midfield. It was West Glasgow who took the lead against the run of play when a ball down the Hamilton left was crossed low in to the box, Dave Lowe came to collect the loose ball. However a mix up between Daryl and Dave who got in each others way saw the ball break to the on rushing West Glasgow striker who knocked the ball in to the net of his stomach.
Hamilton were still doing the pressing but this left some space at the back and West Glasgow had opportunities to extend their lead, however the strikers shooting was a bit off. Chances came and went for Hamilton as they were still unable to break down the West Glasgow defence. The breakthrough finally came 10 mins before half time when a long free kick from Omar was flicked on at the edge of the 18 yard box by Gizzy and when the ball dropped over the defenders head Alex was on hand to volley the ball in to the net. There was no major goal mouth action during the remainder of the half and the referee blew the half time whistle with the scores at 1-1.
The second half started much like the first with Hamilton in the ascendancy but once again West Glasgow took the lead, another mix up between Davy & Daryl at the edge of the area saw the ball break to the West Glasgow striker who fired his shot in on goal, the ball was going harmlessly by the post but Graeme Shaw didn’t know this and as he slid in to clear the ball it flew of his boot and in to the bottom corner of the net. Hamilton had chances to level the scores however Muggy’s shot from 2 yards out flew straight in to the keeper’s hands and Shug saw his shot cannon back of the post.
The equalizer did come when the ball broke to Alex dick in the penalty area and he fired a low shot in to the bottom corner. Hamilton then pressed for the winner and they got the 3^rd goal, good work from the midfield saw the ball played forward to the area, a few quick passes were exchanged and the ball was played to Muggy who was standing on the 6 yard line in what looked like an offside position, Muggy never hesitated and made up for his earlier miss by slotting the ball in to the bottom corner, the West Glasgow players were angered that the referee never disallowed the goal and they were justified in their protests as it did look as if Muggy was offside.
West Glasgow had one last opportunity to level the scores when a long ball played was played over the top of the Hamilton defence, the West Glasgow forward was clearly offside, however the referee allowed play to continue maybe in an attempt to make up for his earlier bad decision. As the striker bore down on the Hamilton goal Shug made it across and a last ditch tackle prevented a goal scoring opportunity.
There was no further action and the game finished 3-2 to Hamilton. A hard fought victory and one that was probably deserved on the balance of play. Positives can be taken from this game in the way Hamilton passed the ball and never gave up but we will need to stop gifting goals to the opposition and cut out the silly mistakes as teams in the 1^st division will punish those mistakes. There will be no more room for error as the league campaign kicks off next week.