Grant Ryan hat-trick guides Hucknall Town to win over Kimberley

Playing in their last match before the East Midlands Counties League season is paused for at least four weeks, the Yellows turned on the style in front of over 200 of their loyal supporters.

This result leaves Andy Graves’ men in a positive position as they head into a month’s break, with only four points separating them and current table-toppers Ollerton Town.

Hucknall came flying out of the blocks early in the match, and deservedly took the lead just five minutes in. Cayne Maxwell did excellently to win a penalty as his cross from the right flank struck the hand of Sam Brown, and experienced striker Ryan rolled the ball home confidently from the spot to put Town in front.

Just moments later, the Yellows almost doubled their advantage when Rory Smith fired a shot at goal from just outside the box, which clattered off the crossbar. Kimberley levelled proceedings shortly afterwards, as forward Isaac Stones found space inside the Hucknall area before neatly finding the bottom corner.

However, the away side were not level for long, as Joe Butler tucked Courtney Bartley’s cross away nicely seven minutes later to conclude a very frantic first quarter of an hour.

A much quieter period followed, with few chances falling to either side, before Town were awarded another spot-kick in the 38th minute after Joe Ashurst was taken down inside the box. Ryan stepped up again and hammered the ball home, leaving goalkeeper Luca Wagstaff with no chance of keeping his effort out.

Just before the half-time whistle was blown, Kimberley were handed a penalty of their own after one of their attackers was bundled over in the area. Miners number nine Stones stepped up from 12 yards and was successful, sending Pearson the wrong way to score his second goal of the night.

The beginning of the second half was almost as compelling as that of the first, as neither side operated with much caution. Only five minutes after the interval, visiting winger Nathan Banton directed a dangerous delivery towards goal which glanced off the inside of the post, before Hucknall sent the ball clear.

As Kimberley pushed for an equaliser, the Yellows were left with a lot of space in behind to operate in on the counter-attack, and they took full advantage of it to net their fourth goal of the night. In the 53rd minute, Butler raced away down the right flank and played the ball into Ryan’s path, who took one touch before curling it into the top-right hand corner of the net to seal his treble.

Town dominated proceedings from that point onwards and had a number of decent opportunities to score more, with Ashurst at the forefront of many attacking moves. Featuring in a more central position than usual, Ashurst flourished and forced the Kimberley goalkeeper into two excellent saves around the hour mark.

With a quarter of an hour still to play, Hucknall made the scoreline more convincing as Butler glanced substitute Eugene Francis’ excellent set-piece delivery into the bottom corner. They then coasted through the final stages of the game to confirm an important victory, which leaves them on a total of 18 points from their opening nine league matches.