Date: 17-Oct-09
Competition: Umbro Fraser Trophy Rd 2
Scorers: Paul Rollo, Wiliam McKean (2), David McKean (4)
Man of the Match: Brian Hamilton
Match Report:

Hamilton Harvest advanced in to the third round of the Umbro Fraser Trophy at the expense of third division Ruchill on Saturday after a convincing 7-0 victory. Harvest lined up in a 4-4-2 formation with Shug in goals, right to left in defence was Omar, Hammy, Steph & Hawky, right to left in midfield was Andy, Des, JB & Davy and in attack were William & Paul, Yos & Rab started on the bench. Harvest started the game in positive mood as they looked for an early goal and almost scored within the first 2 minutes when a run from left to right by Davy finished with a fierce shot that the Ruchill keeper did well to turn round the post. Harvest did take the lead in the 7^th minute when the Ruchill defender allowed a long ball to drop over his head and Wullie was quick to the ball to fend off the defender and lob the ball over the goalkeeper to make it 1-0. Harvest quickly got a grip on the game and played some lovely football but were unable to increase their lead despite creating some good chances. As the first half progressed Ruchill did come back in to it a bit and managed to carve out their first chance on the half hour mark when a Ruchill midfielder advance towards the Harvest box skipping by a few challenges and fired in a low shot which flew past the far post. Ruchill gained a bit of confidence from this and got behind the Harvest defence again when their right midfielder was allowed a run at goal on the angle but the covering Harvest defenders managed to put him off and his right foot let him down at the vital moment as he scuffed his shot wide of the post. Harvest then took control of the match by scoring a 2^nd goal in the 39^th minute, good work down the Harvest right found the ball at the feet of Andy Toner, Andy fired in a low cross in to the box which William allowed to run through his legs and Davy got across the last defender to fire the ball past the keeper. Harvest then made it 3-0 in the 41^st minute with a well worked goal and probably the best of the game, a ball forward to the midfield from defence was flicked by Des in to the path of JB, JB quickly returned the ball to Des who laid it off to JB for a second time, JB found Davy on the left with a first time pass and Davy found Des on the left wing with his first time pass, Des then fired a deep cross in to the back post where Paul rose above the last defender to bullet the ball in to the net with his head to make it 3-0. A superb goal which was well worked and the Ruchill players could do nothing but watch has Harvest picked them apart. The remainder of the half was played out with little in the way of goal mouth action and Harvest went in 3-0 up at the break.

The second half started and Harvest once again took the game to the visitors as they looked to put the game out of reach and they did just that with a 4^th goal in the 47^th minute, Hawky picked up the ball on the Harvest left and chipped it forward to Paul on the edge of the Ruchill penalty area, Paul held the ball up well and laid the ball off to Davy who advance from the left hand side and Davy calmly side footed the ball past the keeper from the edge of the area to make it 4-0. Harvest were now enjoying themselves and the football was mesmerizing to watch at times and they did end the game as a contest in the 49^th minute when they scored a 5^th goal, the ball was played forward and ran through to the Ruchill defender but Davy closed the defender down quickly and managed to steal the ball of the defender as he dwelled on it too long and then was faced with the easy task of side footing the ball past the keeper in to the far corner of the net to complete his hat-trick. Harvest were in total control of the game at this point as 2 goals in quick succession just after half time clearly knocked the stuffing out of Ruchill. In all fairness to Ruchill despite being 5-0 down they kept trying to get a goal back but the Harvest defence was solid and any time the ball was in Harvest’s final 3^rd the defence was on hand to clear the danger. Harvest could have increased their lead even further but the Ruchill keeper kept them in the game with a point blank save from Des’s header and then he done well to claw away a drive by JB. Harvest kept creating chances and did add to their tally in the 65^th minute, once again Andy done well to get down the Harvest right and whip in a low cross and Wullie made it across the front of the defender and got the slightest touch on the ball which was all it needed to direct it in to the net and make the score 6-0. Harvest then made a couple of changes when Yos came on for Wullie, which resulted in Davy pushing up front and Yos slotting in at left midfield and Rab came on to replace Andy at right midfield. Ruchill kept pressing forward looking for what would only be a consolation goal and Shug who had been a spectator for much of the second half had to be on his toes to deny the Ruchill striker. A ball was played forward, the striker got the ball a fraction before Hammy but Shug was quick from his goal to narrow the angle and managed to block the strikers shot with his legs. Shug was called upon again when another ball forward deflected of Steph and fell to Hawky who attempted to play a blind pass to Hammy but only managed to knock the ball side ways straight to the feet of a Ruchill player but Shug was down well and deflected the shot behind for a corner. It was from this corner that Harvest scored their 7^th and final goal, as the ball was played in it fell to Des on the edge of the area, Des cleared the ball up field and as the defender struggled to cope with the high ball, Davy put him under pressure and got the break of the ball and advance towards goal and slotted the ball past the keeper to score his fourth goal. As the game drew to a close Harvest had a few more chance to increase their lead but only a goal line clearance kept the score at 7. The last action of the game saw Hawky play in a first time cross which bounced off the top of the Ruchill crossbar, Hawky informed the guys afterwards that he meant to do that and was trying to score, but no one believed him and he was forced to admit that it was an attempted cross. With no further action the game ended and Harvest ran out deserved 7-0 winners.

Well done today guys another good performance which everyone should be proud off, well done to the goal scorers Paul, William with 2 and Davy who managed 4. Well done to Hammy who was awarded the man of the match award and celebrated in the dressing room by showing the boys his silk boxer shorts which had red lips all over them. Let’s take the good performances of the last few weeks in to our up and coming league games.