Date: 04-May-10
Competition: League
Scorers: Paul Rollo, John Hawkins, Alex Dick, Brian Hamilton
Man of the Match: John Hawkins
Match Report:

Hamilton Harvest took on Avendale on Tuesday night and again the squad was depleted and only 12 players were available. Harvest lined up in a 4-4-2 formation with Shug in goals, right to left in defence was William, Daryl, Hawky & Aiky, right to left in midfield was Andy, Hammy, Davy & Scott with Paul & Alex leading the attack, Kyle started on the bench.

 

Harvest took the game to their opponents and dominated the early exchanges and got their reward in the 15^th minute when they took the lead, Scott whipped in a great cross from a corner to the front post, Hammy head flicked the ball on at the near post and Paul was on hand to out jump the keeper and defender to head the ball in to the net to make it 1-0. Harvest continued to dominate and had the ball in the net again but the referee had judged that Davy had handled the ball when he chested it down and despite a neat finish the goal was chopped off. Harvest continued to press and the Avendale keeper done well to palm a snap shot from Andy away from the top corner. Harvest domination in the first was awarded further when they increased the lead, another corner from the right was swung in to the front post by Scott and Hawky was on hand to head the ball in to the net to make it 2-0. Avendale did come in to the game just before half time but the Harvest defence was solid and Shug had very little to do in the first half and in fact with no further goal mouth action the half time score remained 2-0 to Harvest.

 

The second half started as the first finished with Harvest dominating the early exchanges and they increased their lead in the 60^th minute when a long ball out of defence by William was flicked on by Paul, Alex never gave up the chased and ran on to the ball, his presence made the defender nervous and the defenders touch was poor, this allowed Alex to latch on to the ball and drill the ball low across the keeper in to the bottom corner to make it 3-0. Harvest seemed to relax after this and this allowed Avendale back in to the game as they pressed forward looking for a way back in to the game. Avendale pulled a goal back in the 70^th minute when they won a free kick on the edge of the area and Hutchy stepped up and curled the ball in to the bottom corner to make it 3-1. Harvest made a substitution when Scott had to replaced by Kyle due to injury, Kyle went up front with Paul, Davy moved to left midfield and Alex came in to centre midfield. Avendale then got back in to the game in the 77^th minute when they were gifted a goal, the ball was given away cheaply down in their right and corner and with so many players committed forward 1 long ball up field meant Harvest were out numbered and a pass behind the defenders that were there saw Blair one on one with Shug, as Shug came out and dived at his feet Blair took the ball round him and knocked it past the defender on the line to make it 3-2. Harvest now looked a bit nervous and the balls up to the front 2 were not sticking and Avendale started putting Harvest under a bit of pressure. Harvest then regained their 2 goal advantage in the 80^th minute when Hammy fired in a free kick from about 40 yards which bounced right in front of the keeper and the keeper spilled the ball in to the net. Avendale never gave up and pulled another goal back with 6 minutes remaining again Avendale broke on Harvest down the left, the Avendale winger played the ball inside to the midfielder who then knocked the ball in between the Harvest back four to a team mate, there was a strong appeal for offside but the ref let the play continue and with the player through on goal he slotted the ball past Shug in to the bottom corner to make it 4-3. It was a nervous last 5 minutes for Harvest as Avendale pressed for the equalizer. Harvest continued to press forward looking for more goals they couldn’t break down the Avendale defence. Avendale had the last chance of the match when a swerving free kick was played in to the box, a rush of players ran towards the ball and as it came through the crowd Shug was well positioned to block the ball with his knee and the danger was cleared. This was the last of the action and the game ended with a final score of Harvest 4-3 Avendale.

 

Well done tonight guys, a wee bit scary at the end but we held out of the win. We seemed to be in control at 3-0 then we just took our foot off the gas and allowed them back in to the game by giving away cheap goals. Well done to Paul, Hawky, Alex & Hammy who got their names on the score sheet and to Hawky who was awarded the man of the match award. Rest up we go again on Saturday, have a good week, God Bless.