Date: 12-Sep-09
Competition: League
Scorers: Kyle Sneddon, Davy McKean, Daryl Logie, Paul Rollo
Man of the Match: Alex Dick
Match Report:
Hamilton Harvest took on Port Glasgow B in their second league game of the season at Blantyre this morning, Harvest lined up in a 4-4-2 formation with Shug in goals, right to left in defence was Andy, Steph, Hawky and Aiky, right to left in midfield was Yos, John, Des & Davy with William & Kyle up front, that resulted in Hammy, Paul, James and Daryl starting on the bench. The game started with both teams looking for the early advantage but most of the play was confined to the midfield and any balls played forward by both teams were mopped up by the defence or ran through to the keepers. Port Glasgow created the first chance when a through ball fell to their midfielder but his first touch took him wide and Shug was out of his goal quick to narrow the angle and deflect the shot by the post with his left hand. Harvest then got in to their stride and stared playing some decent football, John Barr and Des were pulling the strings in midfield and Davy on the left was causing Port Glasgow some problems. A few niggling challenges in the middle of the park resulted in yellow cards for 1 player from each team, Wullie McKean from Harvest was penalized for kicking out at a Port Glasgow defender and Martin Stewart from Port Glasgow received the same fate for kicking out at one of the Harvest midfielders. Harvest were creating some decent chances and thought they had taken the lead when the ball was knocked forward to Davy who turned on the edge of the area and darted away from his marker, as the keeper came out he squared the ball to Kyle who tapped the ball in to the empty net, however the referee had judged that Kyle was offside when the ball was played and the goal was disallowed. Harvest were not to be denied however and did take the lead a few minutes later in the 33^rd minute. Good build up down the left saw the ball fall to the feet of Davy, he ran down the wing and along the bye line skipping by challenge after challenge and cut the ball back across the goal line to Kyle who had the easy task of tapping the ball in to the net from close range to make it 1-0. Port Glasgow tried to get back in to the game but found it difficult against a solid Harvest defence who were snuffing out any attacks that came their way, and in the end Port Glasgow were forced to try a few long range efforts which didn’t trouble Shug in the Harvest goal. No further goal mouth action saw Harvest go in 1-0 up at the break. Harvest made a half time substitution when Hammy replaced Wullie in attack, Wullie had put in a good first half shift but was treading on thin ice with the booking he picked up.
Harvest started the second half in the same way they finished the first controlling the play and pace of the game and increased their lead in the 51^st minute when a throw in by Aiky was flicked on by Hammy, Kyle then flicked it on again to Davy who darted past his marker and when faced one on one with the keeper calmly slotted the ball past him in to the bottom corner to make it 2-0. Harvest then made their second substitution when Daryl was brought on to replace Aiky at left back, Aiky had worked tirelessly and kept the right winger from Port Glasgow quite for long periods. Port Glasgow were trying to find a way back in to the game, however their strikers never got much change out of Daryl, Hawky, Steph & Andy at the back who were doing a great job of keeping them out, and when the ball did make it’s way in to the box it was either too short, too long or Shug was on hand to collect. Harvest then made it 3-0 in the 66^th minute, another throw in on the Harvest left fell to Hammy, the Port Glasgow defender nicked the ball off Hammy’s toes, however Daryl had made his way forward from left and stole the ball from the defender and advance in to the box and from an acute angle drove a great right foot effort in to the far corner of the net. Harvest were now well in control of the game and were able to make their third and final substitution when Paul came on for John Barr in the midfield, John had put in a great shift and along with Des pulled the strings in their for the majority of the game. Port Glasgow did muster one clear effort at goal in the second half but as the striker was played through on the angle he rushed his shot from the edge of the area and Shug was down to collect comfortably. With Paul’s height in midfield Harvest were causing Port Glasgow even more problems and the Port Glasgow keeper came to his team’s rescue when the ball was cut back to Paul in side the box and the goal bound effort was turned round the post. Harvest then had to re-shuffle the pack a wee bit after Andy picked up a slight knock, with no substitutions left Hammy came back in to the centre of defence beside Steph, Hawky went to left back, Daryl switched to right back and Andy went up front for the last 10 minutes of the game. Andy nearly had an immediate impact up front when he played a delightful through ball to Yos, who controlled it beautifully but with only keeper to beat Yos screwed his shot past the post. As the game drew to a close Harvest inflicted more pain on the visitors when they scored a fourth goal with only a few minutes remaining. Davy picked the ball up midway in side the Port Glasgow half on the Harvest right, played a neat one two with Yos, when he got the ball back again he headed for the bye line and cut the ball back, but a deflection from a Port Glasgow player saw the ball spin up in the air, Kyle was first to the ball at the near post and flicked it on and when the ball came down it fell straight to Paul who was standing all alone about 5 yards from goal and he made no mistake has the thundered the ball past the keeper in to the net to complete the scoring. The last few minutes were played out at a slower pace and Harvest picked up their first 3 points of the season with a convincing 4-0 victory.
Well done today guys, everyone should take great credit for what was a solid and disciplined performance, well done to Kyle, Davy, Daryl & Paul who all got their names on the score sheet and well done to Des who was awarded the man of the match award. Let’s take this performance in to the next game and get some more points on the board.