East Gwent Senior League Division One Mathern Reserves A 4 Thornwell Red and White 0

MATHERN striker Keiron Gettings scored his first hat-trick for the club to seal victory in the derby clash against Thornwell at the weekend.

After firing Mathern ahead, Gettings laid on the second goal for Dan Tyler in a performance that manager Lee Baker hailed as a man-of-the-match performance.

“I very rarely give man of match to a striker even when scoring a hat trick but Keiron deserved it for an all-round top performance,” Baker said later.

The two first-half goals came in the 20th and 21st minutes, with Gettings unselfishly passing to the better-placed Tyler to place his shot in the corner.

That lead settled Mathern in a match which could so easily have been a banana-skin encounter following the home side’s narrow cup win over Caldicot Town seven days earlier and Thornwell’s excellent victory by the same 2-1 scoreline against promotion contenders Underwood SC.

Although Thornwell created a number of chances they found Mathern’s midfield and defence a tough barrier to penetrate.

Gary Baker returned at centre-back and with Cobi Robinson and Alex Watson either side, Mathern repelled everything the visitors threw at them.

Manager Baker was pleased at the way the table-topping team stood up to the pressure and believes the pressure is shifting onto their title rivals with every victory.

“We knew the pressure was on us so we came out of the traps early and put them under immense pressure,” he said.

“I think we controlled the entire 90 minutes and Thornwell never really recovered from those two goals in a minute.

"This young side I have the pleasure to manage works hard but works together.

“We have proved many times that we are hard to beat and today was no exception. It’s another three points and more pressure on the teams below us.”

His opposite number, Terry Woodward, was gracious in defeat although he said the sticky pitch was not to his team’s liking.

“Mathern started better than us and we never really got into it,” he said.

“It was a really hard pitch to play on. We are a bit of a fair weather side, and we can’t wait for the pitches to get better!”

“They are a very good side and we need to be at our best to compete with them which never really happened.

“The plus point was Cameron Pritchard who showed some real class!

“It is good to see young players coming in and playing well and Mathern had a few as well.

“I enjoyed the game though, they are mainly a good bunch of lads!”