Date: 14-Nov-09
Competition: Umbro Fraser Trophy Rd 3
Scorers: Paul Rollo (4), Alex Dick, Yusef Patel, John Barr
Man of the Match: Alex Dick
Match Report:

Hamilton Harvest advanced in to the quarter finals of the Umbro Fraser Trophy after a convincing 7-0 victory over EK Claremont. Harvest lined up in a 4-4-2 formation with Shug in goals, right to left in defence was Andy, Hawky, Steph & Davy, right to left in midfield was Scott, Alex, JB & Yos and Hammy & Paul lead the attack. William, James & Omar started on the bench. Harvest were quickly in to their stride and took the lead in the 4^th minute, Davy picked the ball up in the centre circle and drove forward, after beating a few men he laid the ball in to the path of Paul who was coming in from the right and Paul drilled his shot low past the keeper in to the far corner to make it 1-0. EK Claremont then went on the attack and were unlucky not to pull level after a snap shot just inside the area cannoned of the base of the post. This was a warning to Harvest and they got the ball down and started to play some lovely football on a difficult surface. Harvest then doubled their lead in the 12^th minute when good work by Scott down the Harvest right saw him feed the ball to Hammy who flashed the ball across the face of goal straight to Paul who calmly wrapped his foot round the shot and placed it past the keeper in to the bottom corner to make it 2-0. Despite being 2-0 down early on EK Claremont pressed forward looking for a way back in to the game and were unlucky again not to pull a goal back, a diagonal ball found the feet of the striker who advanced in to the area and despite the intentions of Hawky and Steph managed to get his shot away which beat the out stretched hand of Shug but came back of the post and back across goal, where Shug was quickly up to collect. Both teams were playing some decent football but it was Harvest who increased their lead in the 25^th minute, when JB picked up the ball in the middle of the park played it to Alex who from 25 yards hit a dipping shot which flew over the keepers head in to the net to make it 3-0. Harvest had a grip of the game and were creating all the chances at this stage, some of the football was a delight to watch and they could have increased their lead further but had 2 goals chopped off, the first was a rasping drive which the keeper failed to hold and as the ball dropped Yos was quickly on to it, however the keeper and Yos came together and as the ball rolled in to the net the referee had blew the whistle for a foul on the keeper. The second goal was chopped of for offside and Paul was denied a first half hat-trick. Harvest did get a 4^th goal in the 33^rd minute, as the ball dropped to Yos in the box he spun and cracked a left foot shot under the keeper. Harvest were creating plenty chances and Hammy was unlucky not to get his name on the score sheet after is header from Hawky’s corner was turned on to the bar by the keeper. Has the half drew to a game of head tennis inside the EK Claremont 6 yard box saw the ball cleared of the line twice. After an action packed first half the referee blew the whistle and Harvest went in 4-0 up.

In to the second half and Harvest increased their lead further with a 5^th goal, after they caught EK Claremont on the break, the EK attack broke down and Harvest quickly shifted the ball down the left to Paul, Paul advanced forward and played the ball in to the box which caught the keeper of balance and the ball somehow squeezed through the gap at the near post and nestled in the back of the net. Harvest then made a few changes on the hour mark when James came on to replace Scott at right midfield and William came on to replace Hammy up front. William had an immediate impact on the game as he set up Harvest’s 6^th goal in the 67^th minute, he picked the ball up on the Harvest right and advanced in to the area and played the ball across the face of goal to JB who was in the right place at the right time to slam the ball in to the empty net. In the 70^th minute Harvest made another change when Omar came on at right back to replace Davy. Harvest were then denied a penalty when James was fouled in the box but the referee had judged that James dived and showed him a yellow card. Harvest did earn a penalty a few minutes later when James was again fouled in the box and this time the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot, James picked himself up and took the penalty but despite sending the keeper the wrong way his shot flew inches past the post. EK Claremont were getting the ball forward in the second half as they attempted to score what would only be a consolation goal, but the Harvest defence was strong as Andy, Steph, Hawky and Omar mopped up the danger, the only real sniff at goal they had was when Shug had to be alert to turn a deflected shot round the post. Harvest completed the scoring in the 79^th minute, a rasping drive by JB from about 30 yards was spilled by the keeper and Paul was quickest to react and slam the ball high in to the net to make it 7-0. With no further action the referee brought the game to a close and Harvest ran out 7-0 winners.

Well done guys, what a big improvement in all areas today, everyone should take great credit from what was a disciplined performance. Well done to Paul, Alex, JB & Yos for getting their names on the score sheet and to Alex for getting the man of the match award. Let’s take this good performance in to next weeks league game. Have a safe week, God Bless.