ONE of the first things Ben Watson did after firing a hat-trick for the Magpies against Paulton on Tuesday night was to hand the match ball to son Shay, with the Dorchester striker hoping that the nine-year-old will someday be able to repay the favour.

Watson’s county town team-mates signed the ball for him after the 29-year-old rattled in a second-half treble in his side’s 6-0 rout of the Evo-Stik Southern Premier Division’s bottom club.

In netting three times, Watson became the first Dorchester player to register a league hat-trick at home in more than seven years – Jamie Mudge was the last man to do so in a 4-3 defeat of Thurrock on December 13, 2008.

Watson had only scored once in the league this season before Tuesday’s victory – that came against Stratford in September – so quadrupling his tally was obviously something he enjoyed.

“The manager has played me in a deeper role for most of the season and I’ve been providing chances for the forwards,” he told Echosport.

“But we changed to a 4-3-3 on Tuesday and it was nice to be back up front and scoring a few myself.

“Hopefully I can start scoring more regularly now and catch up with the other lads.

“I’d only scored one in the league before Tuesday, and missed a few penalties, so it was a bit of a relief to get on the scoresheet.

“I haven’t put pressure on myself because I’ve been contributing to the team by setting up other people to score.

“Last season a lot of the emphasis was on me to score but this season the goals have been shared around.

“Bradley Tarbuck, Jonah Ayunga and Charlie Davis have all scored a few and other players are chipping in as well.”

He went on to add: “Being a striker, it was nice to get the plaudits, and I got the lads to sign the match ball for me after the game.

“I’ve given it to my son, who plays at Exeter, and hopefully he can repay the favour when he is older and maybe playing in the Premier League.”