In a one-sided clash at the Autonet Insurance stadium, Kidsgrove ran away with the victory in a 13-0 clash against Eastwood Hanley, where two goals were scored within three minutes of kick off, and Jake Lovatt also secured his first hattrick of the season.

Lovatt scored his sixth goal in three games on Friday night, a successful pre-season for the 22-year-old after he was brought from Chasetown over the Summer.

From Friday night’s game, two of Lovatt’s goals were scored back to back in the 29th and 32nd minute.

The first looked as if Trialist A was going to bag the fourth goal of the night but the keeper made an impressive save, deflecting the shot onto the post where the ball went back into play. Lovatt pounced on the opportunity to score his first of the night, just yards from the net. With a confident approach, the keeper for Eastwood would have done well to defend this one.

Trialist A yet again assisted in Lovatt’s second goal of the night, keeping the ball in play and stopping it going from a goal kick, the defence for the away side were out of sight for this attack, meaning the second goal for the Lovatt was an easy one. Again, just yards from the net, he slipped the ball just past the keeper, meaning the home side were 5-0 up in just over half an hour.

With the best goal of the hattrick coming third, Kidsgrove were scoring goals just for fun at this point. Lovatt retrieved the ball and smoothly chipped it over the keeper as he left the net. This secured the only hattrick of the night.

Trialist A was next best on the pitch and was unfortunate not to have his own hattrick. By assisting numerous goals and the keeper creating some good saves, Trialist A narrowly missed out, but overall had an exceptional performance.

His first of the night could have come much sooner but finally came in the 36th minute. Jack Bromfield played the ball through resulting in Trialist A having a one on one with the keeper. The home player got the better of him and slotted it past, taking his first of two of the night.

He took his second in the eighth minute of the second half, showing that they were ready for more action. A cross from Ben Chesters and Trialist A got his foot to it, claiming his last goal for the evening.

Trialist B had an impressive game for Kidsgrove tonight putting his name on the scorecard twice in 20 minutes. Being subbed on at half time, he showed his new team what he could offer after a successful start to the season, after also scoring in the first friendly of the season.

Again, the defenders weren’t quick enough to intervene with the trialists first goal, giving him an easy opportunity which he snatched as soon as he could.

His second of the evening, third of the season so far, included some backward and forward passes between himself and Lovatt. Either of them being able to take the goal, Trialist B took the opportunity as the keeper had no assist from his defenders. This was the final goal of the night in
the 83rd minute- as the game was ended five minutes early by the referee.

Kyle Diskin caused some controversy with the goal he scored from a freekick. 30 yards from the goal and he smoothly had a shot on target. The keeper got a slight touch on the ball and the ball deflected to bounce between the cross bar and ground. The linesman signalled the goal but the away side didn’t agree. The decision remained taking the game to double figures.

Kingsley Adu-Gyamfi was to thank for two of the first three goals getting his team of to an impressive early start, that no one could see Eastwood making a comeback from. Another player who has had an impressive season up to yet.

With Kidsgrove not having the ball for the first minute of the game, the keeper kicked the ball away, a sloppy kick and the first chance the home side gained possession, Adu-Gyamfi wasn’t letting this opportunity slide and the first of the night was scored.

A cross from Will Byers allowed Adu-Gyamfi to score just six minutes later. A few touches later, the ball was in the top left corner of the net, the Grove had their eyes on the silverware available.

Ruben Wiggins-Thomas, Bromfield and Chesters all took a goal each, meaning an impressive eight players got their name onto the score card on the evening of the Jimmy Wallace memorial match.

Wiggins-Thomas scored the second of the night within three minutes, gently chipping the ball over the keeper, it was an impressive start to the game, and a nice boost to the morale for the team.

Minutes before half time, Bromfield took his first and only goal of the night, as well as assisting the previous goal. With a nice pass from Lovatt, the keeper came out of his net and tried to get the better of Bromfield. This didn’t go to plan for the keeper. Bromfield swiftly put the ball around him and scored the last of the half, putting the home side up to 7-0.

In the 80th minute Chesters took his chance to score after the away side performed some sloppy play. As they gave the ball away meters from their goalkeeper, Chesters reacted and scored, a well-deserved goal for the youngster after his promotion to the first team from the youth setup.

With the game ending five minutes early, fans are left asking what further damage the home side could have caused, but with some silverware won and a positive game, this gives everyone high hopes for the new season starting in just a couple of weeks.