A Jake Thomson hattrick helped Stoneham come from behind to win 5-1 against Brockenhurst in the Wessex Premier League.

Yet again, Stoneham’s excellent facilities meant that this was the only game able to go ahead, with all the others being postponed due to the icy weather and frozen pitches.

The Stoneham wingers of Scott Hills and Liam Callaghan were busy early on, causing problems yet again for defenders with their quick and direct running, something that has become a regular occurrence this season.

Good pressure from Thomson and Hills caused panic between the two Brockenhurst centre backs, but luckily for them they finally managed to clear the ball before either of the two could pounce on it.

Despite all of the Purps’ early pressure, it was the away side who took the lead after capitalising on a defensive mistake in the 27th minute.

Miscommunication at the back saw Tom Parker-Trott’s clearance hit the back of Jamie Ovington, which then fell kindly to Brockenhurst’s new singing Conor Jevon, who tapped the ball into an empty net on his debut, putting the visitors one nil up.

Parker-Trott denied them a second shortly after, when Woods’ through ball found the feet of the dangerous O’Donnell, but his shot was smartly saved by the goalkeeper and turned away for a corner.

However, the home side finally found an equaliser after Cade Dyer’s halfway line free kick, who’s ball somehow managed to find an un-marked Thomson in plenty of space in the box and he rolled the ball into the far corner for his first of the game.

Two minutes later, the home side completed the comeback thanks to yet another Dyer set piece, when his corner deflected off Hills and was bundled over the line, putting the Purps 2-1 up just before half time.

HALF TIME: AFC Stoneham 2-1 Brockenhurst

Stoneham started the second half in the same vein as the end of the first, scoring a goal two minutes after the break, with the clinical Thomson latching onto the cross from Callaghan to score a brace.

At 3-1 down, Brockenhurst didn’t look disheartened, and Harvey Woods was still causing the defence problems with his powerful and commanding runs, however the final ball wasn’t quite there on the night.

Cian Cleary came on and had a fantastic introduction, his speed and trickery was causing the full back an even bigger headache, after already having to mark Callaghan for the first 70 minutes.

He picked the ball up on the right-hand side and spun his man to create space ahead of him, which he then used to play a brilliant outside of the boot ball through to Thomson, who tucked it away for his hat-trick.

And like London buses, another one came shortly after, when Jim Orvis’ corner dropped to Ovington in the box, who instinctively back-heeled it into the net, making it two goals in two games for the centre back and putting Stoneham 5-1 up.

It was a professional end to the game from Stoneham, who kept the ball and didn’t give anything away, as well as Adam Pattinson getting his first minutes back on the pitch following a month out from injury.

FULL TIME: AFC Stoneham 5-1 Brockenhurst

AFC Stoneham Starting XI: Parker-Trott, Barnes, Dyer, Evans, Ovington, Clarke, Callaghan, Orvis (c), Thomson, Bainbridge, Hills

Subs: Pattison, Bulpitt, Steel, Cleary, Sunley

Brockenhurst Starting XI: Snelling, Russell, Hartness, Edmondson, Chamberlain (c), Speechley-Price, O’Donnell, Maddocks, Jevon, Woods, Denntt.

Subs: Stacey, Pomeroy, Sheedy, Bartray

By Freddie Dorman