Date: 22-Aug-09
Competition: Friendly
Scorers: William McKean (4), Davy McKean (2), James McKean
Man of the Match: Paul Rollo
Match Report:
Hamilton Harvest completed their pre-season preparations with a convincing win over St Ninians on Saturday. Harvest lined up in a 4-4-2 formation with Shug in goals, right to left in defence was Daryl, Steph, Hammy & Aiky, right to left in midfield was Andy, Omar, Paul and Sandy with Davy & Wullie leading the attack, James and Kyle started the game on the bench. Harvest started the game comfortably and quickly got in to their stride as they pushed for an early goal which came in the 6^th minute, a long clearance from Shug dipped over the defenders head and Davy latched on to the ball and as the keeper advanced he lifted it over him from 18 yards and the ball nestled nicely in to the net to make it 1-0. Harvest continued to press and were dominating possession and scored a second goal on 12 minutes, a corner from the left by Sandy found Wullie about 7 yards out and he jumped above the defenders to head the ball past the keeper and in to the net to make it 2-0. Harvest were now totally dominating and some of the football was superb and they got their reward again in the 16^th minute when they scored a 3^rd goal, Andy picked up the ball on the Harvest right and played a brilliant through ball which split the St Ninians defence, Wullie ran through and latched on to the through ball and coolly slotted the ball under the keeper to make it 3-0. St Ninians were being pegged back for the majority of the half but did manage to get forward on one occasion when their right midfielder picked up the ball, played a neat one two with the striker but Shug got down well at his near post to smother the ball. Harvest continued in their pursuit of more goals and scored a 4^th in the 23^rd minute, Daryl took a throw in on the Harvest right, Wullie flicked the ball on and Davy collected it and ran through one on one with the keeper and side footed the ball in to the net to make it 4-0. Harvest were rampant at this point and everyone was playing a part, as Harvest built most of their attacks up from the back, the passing and movement was superb and St Ninians were struggling to get in to the game. Harvest were unlucky not to increase the score line even further after Andy made a darting run in from the right but his shot cannoned back off the post, and then a great square ball from Daryl set up Davy, who’s shot came crashing back off the crossbar and then a great ball across the box found Paul but somehow the keeper managed to get the slightest of touches to the Paul’s shot to deflect it over the bar. Harvest were not to be denied and they did get a 5^th goal in the 33^rd minute, Wullie picked the ball up on the Harvest right and held the ball up well, Daryl from right back overlapped him and Wullie knocked the ball forward to Daryl, Wullie then made a great run in to the box and received the ball back from Daryl, Wullie’s initial shot was parried by the keeper, but he got to the rebound and fired the ball low in to the left hand corner to make it 5-0. After his hat-trick Wullie took a wee rest and James came on for the remaining 15 minutes of the first half. Harvest then completed the first half scoring in the 38^th minute, a rare run forward by Hammy saw him brought down about 25 yards from goal, Hammy dusted himself off and took the free kick, however the free kick deflected off the wall and fell straight to James and he coolly rounded the keeper and tapped the ball in to the net to make it 6-0. St Ninians did muster the last chance of the half, when the ball was knocked to the right midfielder who knocked it on to the forward, but Shug was quick from his goal and as the forward tried to knock it past him he got a hand to the ball and collected comfortably. There was no further action in the first half and Harvest went in with a 6-0 lead.
At half time Kyle replaced Omar in midfield and Sandy made way for Wullie who came back on up front to partner James resulting in Davy dropping back to left midfield. All credit to St Ninians because they were better organized in the second half and started pushing forward more and they had a great chance to get a goal back when a neat exchange on the edge of the Harvest area resulted in a shot but Shug got a hand to it and eventually the danger was cleared. Harvest were still creating half chances but didn’t really force the St Ninians keeper in to a save and in fact it was St Ninians who got a goal back in the 53^rd minute, Shug gave away a cheap corner and then failed to get enough on the cross when it came over and the St Ninians defender was on hand at the back post to head the ball in to the net to make it 6-1. Although St Ninians came in to the game a bit more Harvest were still dominating and passing the ball about, however no real clear cut chances were being created and St Ninians were coping better in the second half than they did in the first. Harvest then thought they should have had 2 penalties after Davy and James were brought down in the box on separate occasions but the referee waved away the appeals. St Ninians were then awarded a penalty in the 74^th minute when Sandy was adjudged to have brought down their midfielder as he advanced in to the box and despite Shug guessing the right way the penalty was dispatched in to the bottom left hand corner to make the score 6-2. Harvest then hit the woodwork for the 3^rd time in the game when a neat move resulted in the ball being cut back to Paul and his hot clipped the top of the crossbar and went out for a bye kick. As the game drew to a close Harvest completed the scoring in the 84^th minute when Sandy picked the ball up on the Harvest right, made a cross field run and then slipped a great through ball to William who slotted the ball past the keeper to make it 7-2. There was no further action in the match and the referee brought the game to a close with the final score 7-2 to Harvest.
Well done today guys, solid performance by everyone and some great passing and movement especially in the first half. Well done to William, Davy & James who got their names on the score sheet and well done to Paul who was awarded the man of the match award, lets take this performance in to the start of the league campaign.