Former Portsmouth favourite Brett Pitman hits third Wessex League hat-trick in seven matches to take seasonal tally past the 30-goal mark

Brett Pitman celebrates his first goal against Blackfield & Langley. Picture by Daniel Haswell.

Brett Pitman grabbed his third hat-trick in seven Wessex League games as AFC Portchester restored their eight-point lead at the top of the Premier Division.

The former Pompey favourite now has a stunning 26 goals in just 18 league starts after his latest treble in a 3-0 home win over Blackfield & Langley.

If he continues his current scoring ratio over the entire 38-game season, he will equal Andy Forbes’ 2003/04 all-time Wessex Premier record of 55 strikes - but having played four fewer matches.

Pitman had previously struck a hat-trick in a 3-2 win at Portland and netted four times in a 8-1 destruction of rock bottom Alresford.

In all competitions, the 34-year-old now has 32 goals in just 22 starts plus another two off the bench.

Horndean had narrowed the Royals’ lead to five points, having played the same amount of games, after winning 2-1 against Moneyfields at Westleigh Park last Friday.

But Pitman’s goals ensured Portchester completed a 17th win in 18 league matches. As a result, they remain one of only six clubs unbeaten in league action across the top 10 tiers of English football in 2022/23 alongside Spalding (Northern Premier League Midlands), Reading City (Combined Counties North), Loughborough Students (United Counties League North), Andover New Street (Wessex Division 1) and Shoreham (Southern Combination Division 1).

‘It’s fantastic to play 18 games and only drop two points,’ said Royals boss Dave Carter. ‘Of course it’s going better than expected - you don’t really expect to nearly win every game.’

Blackfield boss Craig Stanley told Carter he had the strongest squad available to him since taking charge a few weeks ago.