Harthill Village AFC

Comfortable victory at the Juniors today against Uphall .

Had to change things slightly with Minty unavailable so Hardie slotted in at the back with Scott Davidson going back into midfield after suspension .Porky returned up front after a drink related absence to replace Scott Charleston who was cup tied .

Led 2-0 at the break playing against a stiffish breeze .

Second half well on top and was able to bring on Buntsy Uggy and Stevie who was denied his first competitive goal when the ref played on despite the ball being a yard over the line .Scorers were Kallum 3 Buntsy 2 Hardie Berty Porky and Scott.

We now progress to the semi finals to face Livi Utd Blackburn or Oscars .Draw not yet made .

Next Sunday away to Livi Utd in West Calder Cup needing one point to progress to quarter finals.

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Havent updated the site for a wee while .

Weather has still played a major part with only 3 games played since the last post - with varying success - league wins over Livi Inn and Broxburn but defeat at Livi North .

We are now coming to the serious part of the season with 7 league games left .Currently in second place in the league but need other teams to help if we are to win the league however we will give it a go and see where it takes us .

We also have a quarter final of the Irvine Shield this week at home to Uphall which we will be hopeful of winning .

We need one point from our remaining two games in the West Calder Cup group to progress to the quarter finals and again will be confident of acjieving this .

A new competition - Divisional Cup has been introduced and we have drawn Livi Utd in a two leg affair .The emphasis put on this competition will depend on whether we progress in the two main competitions .

There have been changes to the playing staff with Jim Bourne Eric Dowds Barry Easton Neil Cassidy and Steven Dickson all being released . Hopefully Bomber will have recovered sufficiently from injury to play a part next season having missed all of this .Eck has decided to hang up the boots and everyone at the club will miss him in the dressing room . What a man !

Big JB is now refereeing full time and again he will be a loss having been magnificent for us since we started . Suppose its time to bring through the youngsters ha ha .

We are excited about the new league set up for next season having joined the West Lothian league for next season .More details on this will be released in the coming months .

All in all a very exciting time ahead for the Village with all these games and most importantly Pauls return from his Tour Of Duty in Afghanistan - be great to get the big man back - if we can keep the Rocket on the park for 90 minutes !!

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What a major disappointment ! Losing out for the second year in a row to Tayport in extra time .

The pitch was passed as fit by the referee despite being very very heavy .

Started the game quite positively but it was clear that the Tayport froint men were going to cause us some problems - in all other areas we were quite comfortable .

First talking point was when Porky was brought down in the box but struggled to his feet to cut the ball back for Kallum who unfortunately shot over .Referee later conceded that he should have given the penalty and sent the lad off but allowed the advantage !

Shortly after ,we were awarded a penalty which Paul McNee slotted away . Unfortunately the next 5 minutes had a massive bearing on the game .Tayport levelled from a clearly offside position and a couple of minutes later we lost Chris Bremner to a nasty knee injury . Had to reshuffle the side but we keep going forward and Berty missed a great chance to put us back in front with only the keeper to beat . Cally did however put us ahead only for us to lose a very soft and unlucky equaliser when a clearance cannoned off a Tayport attacker and landed at his team mates feet .Just on the stroke of half time .

In the second half we were looking the better side and had good efforts on goal from Porky and big Scott before the main turning point in the match with half an hour to go .

In a moment of madness Paul kicked out at an opponent and was red carded .We then lost big Scott to injury . Despite this we battled on and Jamie made a couple of excellent saves before we were caught trying to play offside and the striker put Tayport ahead . To their credit however ,despite the pitch now being really cut up and down to ten men we kept pushing for the leveller and were rewarded in the last two minutes when Porky fired us level 3-3.

In extra time first period we were well in the match and had a couple of decent attacks but as the game went into the last 5 minutes of extra fatigue was starting to show .A scramble in the goalmouth after a long throw saw the Tayport player bundle in the winner.

As I say very disappointing outcome but immense credit due to the ten men who battled for an hour to win the tie .They didnt deserve to lose this one.

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After yesterdays very effective and successful training exercise I am very much looking forward to the Scottish Cup tie against Tayport this weekend .Players have come back from the break in much better shape than I expected and its a credit to them that they have .

In an attempt to ensure that the game goes ahead this weekend we have booked Harthill Public Park for 1pm and also Wishaw 3g for 3pm .A decision on the venue will be made on Friday .

Training on Wednesday at Whitburn as usual 7.30pm - and again on Saturday morning at 10.30 at the public park .

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Hope all of you guys have had a very nice time over Christmas .

On the football front ,absolutely nothing has been happening with the heavy snow and hard frosts .Looks like it it could be a couple of weeks yet before we can expect to pull on the boots once more .

Our next scheduled fixture is for Sunday 10th January where Tayport will attempt for the third time to have our Scottish tie played .Should they be unsuccessful it is likely that the game will be switched down to Harthill on 17th . This would be a great boost for us of course .

More concerning is the fact that we have played only once in the 7 or 8 weeks before this upcoming game . Even the friendlies which I had arranged have fallen foul of the weather . I am attempting to get indoor facilities for the next week or two to at least keep us ticking over .

So the update is

(1)  We are comfortably positioned in the top 4 in the league but can afford no more slip ups if we are to pose a serious threat to Shotts and Tower in the second half of the season but there is absolutely no reason why we cant go on an unbeaten run in the league having only lost one game in the first half of the season .I am still very confident that we will be there or thereabouts and if anyone manages to stay ahead of us they will win the league .

(2)  In the Scottish Cup we as mentioned travel to Tayport and unless they have substantially improved I would be hopeful of coming away with a victory leaving us to face yet another away trip in Round 5 .The possible opponents in this tie are Beechwood (Glasgow Sunday ) ,a team we would be expected to beat . Roslin da Vinci from Fife and again a team that we would be expected to overcome or Lochgreen from Coatbridge who would perhaps pose the greatest threat however no disrespect intended by saying that if we hope to compete with the big boys then that is also a tie that we would should be looking to win .

(3) In the Irvine Shield we were handed an away tie in Round 2 against Bathgate however they have withdrawn from the league so we progress to the quarter finals .The draw for this has not been made yet but with Blackburn and Tower paired in Round 2 at least one of the top Div 1 clubs will go out .This competition wont reach the later stages until a bit later in the season .

(4) West Calder Cup -  we need one point from our last two games in the group away to Livi Utd and Croftmalloch to progress to the Quarter finals and we are of course very confident of achieving this .In the quarters we would face either an away game v Tower (if we finish second in the group) or a home game against Ladywell if we win the group .Either way it will be a difficult tie and perhaps surprisingly I would say that I wouldnt mind a go at Tower in the quarters !

(5) New Division 1 Cup - a prelim game between Blackburn and Craigshill has been drawn but the quarter final draw has not yet been made .

So you can see guys that there is a great deal of football to be played and exciting times ahead -we are very much still involved in all 5 competitions .

If we can hit the ground running on the restart then we can look forward to a fantastic end of the season and it would be very disappointing not to capture a share of the spoils on offer .

There will be another couple of signings shortly and regrettably a couple of guys going the other way but thats what the big squad is about .Everyone will also get a lift from Pauls return for a couple ofweeks in January and his permanent return in April .

In closing can I thank all of the players and committee for their efforts over the past year and for their support .

Have a very Happy and Prosperous New Year  .

John

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Thoroughly deserved 6-3 victory against an inexperienced side who never gave up despite losing 2 goals in the first 5 minutes .

At times the football was very good but concerning that we managed to give away some cheap goals . Over the piece we were worthy winners and could have scored a few more .Scorers Kallum 2 Tam, Scott, Porky and Berty .

Injury to Jamie saw Pow play in goal second half and as expected he handled it very well even though he hadnt played a game yet this season in goal .

Next Round 13th December away to Tayport .

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Excellent days work with full points from the 2 West Calder Cup ties played despite not playing particularly well however it would be wrong to pick too many faults as the team was substantially changed to cover the 2 games .

First game at Linlithgow saw us beat Uphall 5-3 with goals from Tam (2) Berty Kallum and Scott . Pitch was in poor nick and the football not of the best standard however a much changed team battled away after getting pegged back  to 3-3 from 3-1 up . Biggest disappointment was losing Hardie to a nasty thigh injury in the first 20 minutes and we are awaiting a hospital report to establish the extent of the damage .

Second game was a comfortable 6-0 win against an enthusiastic but inexperienced Dedridge side .

Goals from Buntsy ( 3) Cally Uggy and Kallum .

Good game time for Stevie Marshall ,Craig Hunter and Buntsy .

The squad deserve immense credit as we were without Pow Porky Neil Barry Paul and Bomber as well as losing Hardie to injury .Free week next week as we prepare for the Scottish Cup trip to Dumfries .

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Scottish Cup   3rd Round

Palmerston Colts        .v.    Harthill Village

on Sunday 22nd November  2009

It is now official that we will be travelling to Dumfries on 22nd November for the 3rd Round tie . Palmerston beat Springhall from Glasgow League 5-3 on Sunday .

This is most definitely a tie we can win .

A bus will be booked and seats priced about £5 will be available on a first come /first served basis .

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