CHICKERELL UNITED 3 KINGSTON LACY 0

A ‘PERFECT’ hat-trick from Josh Why saw the Chickens see off Kingston Lacy to leapfrog Dorset Senior League leaders Sturminster Marshall.

Why scored with his head, left foot and right foot as the hosts put the previous weekend’s reverse at South Cheriton behind them.

And while Why’s timely return to form delighted manager Steve Coward, the Chickens’ boss was also pleased to see Liam Coles back from injury and new signing Tyrone Whittle come off the bench for his debut.

“We didn’t play very well in the first half an hour,” admitted Coward. “I thought we would have reacted a bit better to last week’s defeat.

“But we got our act together and, after Josh Why gave us a 1-0 lead, we came in at half-time and regrouped.

“When you are near the top of the league teams are going to raise their game against you and if you don’t come out of the blocks quickly they are going to take advantage.

“Once we got going it was quite comfortable and we missed five or six clear chances before Josh scored two more in the second half.

“Josh hasn’t scored too many this season so for him to get a hat-trick is a massive plus for us.”

He went on to add: “A lot of the lads were downhearted after the South Cheriton game and they realised they had to pick themselves up.

“They struggled at first but got there in the end and it’s nice to be back at the top of the league.

“All of the teams at the top are in the cup this weekend so if we can beat Okeford in our next league game then we can go into Christmas in first place, which would be nice.

“The two teams just behind us would still have a game in hand but the pressure is on them to win those.”

Work commitments kept top scorer Dan Welch on the sidelines at the weekend and he will be missing again this Saturday.

But centre-half Whittle, who has recently moved to the area, looks like a good signing for the Chickens as they chase silverware on two fronts this season.

Chickerell are away to Stur-minster Newton United in the third round of the Dorset Senior Trophy on Saturday.

Chickens: Boore, Coles, Curran, Guilbert (Whittle 70), Miles, Protheroe, Ferguson, S Welch (Heath 75), Stone, White (Arliss 85), Why