Date: 10-Oct-09
Competition: League
Scorers: William McKean, John Barr
Man of the Match: John Hawkins
Match Report:

Hamilton Harvest picked up their 5 win in a row with a 2-0 victory against Findlaydale at Netherpollock on Saturday. Harvest lined up in a 4-4-2 formation with Shug in goals, right to left in defence was Omar, Steph, Hawky & Aiky, right to left in midfield was Andy Toner, Des, JB & Colin Pendrich (making his first appearance in 1 ½ years) with James and William paired up front. Andy Ward & Rob Roy had to settle for a place on the bench. Both teams started the game brightly with possession shared, however it was not long before Harvest started to get a grip of the game, Des & JB were pulling the strings in midfield and some of the football being played was great to watch. Harvest took the lead in the 14^th minute, the ball was won in midfield by JB, he knocked the ball to Des who lofted a lovely ball over the top of the Findlaydale defence straight to the feet of William and as the keeper came out William toe pocked the ball past him and despite the efforts of the covering defender he could do nothing to prevent the ball trickling in to the bottom corner. Harvest were now in control and any threat from Findlaydale was soon snuffed out by a solid back 4. Harvest continued to create chances and were unlucky not to increase their lead after a corner was floated in to the near post and Des got a head flick to the ball and the Findlaydale keeper done well to push the effort over the bar. Harvest were then forced in to a change midway through the first half when James limped off to be replaced by Andy Ward in a like for like swap. Andy had an immediate impact on the game with his height and strength up front and created Harvest second goal in the 32^nd minute. Good work down the Harvest left saw the ball fed in to Andy’s feet, he managed to look up and crossed the ball to the edge of the 18 yard box where JB was waiting and he done well to control the shot and drill the ball in to the bottom corner of the net to make it 2-0. Harvest continued to push forward looking for more goals and both JB and Aiky had long range efforts that flew just by the post. Findlaydale were getting a bit frustrated going forward and were getting no change from the Harvest back line who stood strong and cleared everything, in fact Shug was a mere spectator in the Harvest goal in the first half only having to come out to clear a couple of long balls. Despite dominating Harvest were unable to add to their tally and went in at half time leading 2-0.

The second half was a bit of a scrappy affair with not much to write home about Harvest continued to play some creative football but the Findlaydale defence was more organized in the second half and the chances created were only half chances. It seemed like more of a midfield battle in the second half and at times the referee had to intervene as the rash challenges were being thrown about. Findlaydale did manage their first shot on goal in the 60^th minute but the strikers turn and shot was held comfortably by Shug. Harvest kept pressing looking for a way to increase the lead and were denied a few penalty claims after players tumbled in the Findlaydale box but the referee waved away the appeals. Findalydale did continue to battle hard and try and penetrate the Harvest back line but anything that came forward was dealt with comfortably by Aiky, Hawky, Steph & Omar. As the game came to a close Harvest made another change when Rob Roy came on to replace Andy Toner at right midfield. Findlaydale did have an opportunity to get a goal back in the last few minutes when a ball from midfield was played over the top of the Harvest back 4, in all fairness the back 4 did step up and the striker seemed to be in an offside position, however the referee deemed the player to be on side and allowed play to continue, as the striker ran through one on one with Shug he had the support of a few team mates alongside him, but instead of squaring the ball for what surely would have been a tap in he decided to try and chip Shug who managed to read the attempt and jumped to collect the ball and maintain his clean sheet. With no further action of note the referee brought the game to a close with the final score 2-0 to Harvest.

Well done today guys another solid performance and another 3 points on the board. Everyone should take credit for the win and for the hard work they put in to the game. Well done to the goal scorers William & JB and well done to Hawky who was awarded the man of the match award for the solid defensive display. I don’t think anyone would argue that there were a few candidates for man of the match but well done to Hawky for getting it. Let’s keep the good performances up and continue to build on our good start to the season.