Date: 03-Oct-09
Competition: League
Scorers: William McKean, James McKean, Alex Dick, Paul Rollo (2)
Man of the Match: John Barr
Match Report:

Hamilton Harvest continued their recent good form with a 5-2 victory over St Silas on Saturday in what turned out to be very difficult conditions. Harvest opted for a 4-4-1-1 formation and started with Shug in goals, right to left at the back was Davy, Steph, Omar & Hawky, left to right in midfield was Yos, Paul, John Barr and James, Alex played in front of the midfield 4 and William led the attack after returning from suspension, Kyle started the game as a substitute.

With the swirling wind it was difficult for either team to get a foot on the ball but it was Harvest who created the first chance when Paul set up James but his shot was parried by the keeper. St Silas created the next chance but a snap shot from the edge of the area was collected comfortably by Shug. Harvest did take the lead in the 19^th minute, James picked up the ball on the Harvest right skipped by a challenge and managed to knocked the ball forward to William before he was taken down, the referee played a great advantage and William was able to keep his shot low and drove it under the keeper on the angle about 15 yard out to make it 1-0. St Silas didn’t let their heads go down and scored the equalizer in the 25^th minute, a loose ball by Harvest on the left hand side found the St Silas winger he knocked the ball over the top of the Harvest defence straight to the feet of a team mate, Shug advanced a long way out of his goal to try and claim the ball but the St Silas player knocked it by him and managed to squeeze the ball in to the net from an acute angle to make it 1-1. Harvest continued to get the ball down and knock it about and regained the lead in the 30^th minute, John Barr who was bossing the midfield won the ball and sprayed a pass out to James on the right, James beat his man and squared the ball to Paul and from about 30 yards Paul sent a looping shot over the keeper in to the top left hand corner of the net to make it 2-1. St Silas were still pressing forward in a game that went back & forth and created another opening when the ball was played forward to the striker, he held of the Harvest defender well and knocked the ball back to an on rushing team mate who attempted to curl his shot in to the corner but Shug was at full stretch to get a hand to the ball and stop the shot and Steph was on hand to clear the danger and ensure no one followed up on the rebound. St Silas created the last chance of the first half when good work by their forward saw him advance in to the box but his low drive was held by Shug down low at his near post and the teams went in at half time with Harvest 2-1 up.

With the wind behind them in the second half Harvest came out and dominated the early exchanges and had a great chance to increase their lead further when John Barr picked up the ball just inside the St Silas half noticed the keeper of his line and fired in a great shot which cannoned of the inside of the post and came back out and a frantic clearance ensured there was no follow up. Despite dominating the early exchanges of the second half it was St Silas who got the equalizer in the 53^rd minute, when a ball over the top of the defence found the strikers feet and he placed his shot past Shug in to the far corner of the net. Harvest continued to press forward and only a goal line clearance and a frantic goal mouth scramble prevented Harvest from regaining the lead. With Harvest dominating the play it was only a matter of time and they did regain the lead, the ball was knocked forward to Alex who’s cheeky head flick prevented the defender getting near the ball and has the ball dropped to him and with his back to goal he hooked the ball over the keeper in to the net to make 3-2. Despite the amount of the possession Harvest were enjoying they had to be alert at the back, with the wind and some fast forwards to contend with, but most of the St Silas attacks were snuffed out. Harvest then increased their lead further in the 70^th minute, John Barr picked up the ball, skipped by a few challenges and squared the ball to Paul who hit it first time from about 20 yards, the ball deflected of a St Silas player and totally wrong footed the keeper and the ball flew past him in to the net to make it 4-2. Harvest opted to make a change at this point and Kyle was brought on to replace Yos at left midfield. St Silas were dangerous on the break and they managed to work an opening on the Harvest right, the St Silas cut inside squared the ball to a team mate who fired a low shot at goal but once again Shug dived full length to his right to get a hand to the shot to deflect the ball away. Harvest then put the game out of the reach of St Silas with a well worked 5^th goal, after James had set up William for the first goal, William returned the favour when he picked up a pass from Alex advanced in to the box and crossed for James who was standing alone about eight yards out and crashed an unstoppable volley past the keeper. St Silas were still going forward with menace and could have pulled a goal back near the end when after good work the St Silas winger advanced to the bye line, as he cut the ball back Shug got a good hand to the ball to knock it away from the feet of the striker, the ball fell to another St Silas player at the edge of the area but Shug was up on his feet quick to get a strong hand to the shot and turned the ball past the post. A few more chances at either end came and went but the score line remained unchanged and the referee brought the game to a close and Harvest run out deserved 5-2 winners.

Well done today a good performance in what were very difficult conditions, well done to William, Paul, James & Alex who got their names on the score sheet and to John Barr who was deservedly awarded the man of the match award after he bossed the midfield. Another good win, lets keep this good form up and take this performance in to next weeks league game.