Hayes & Yeading United 3 Salisbury City 4

Hayes & Yeading United 3 Salisbury City 4

Blue Square Premier

Hayes team: Overland; Mulley, Ruby (Gradwell, 74), Cadmore (c), Green; James (Little, 53), Marwa, Canham (Cochrane, 57), Binns; Daly, Fitzgerald.

Subs (not used): El-Abd, Preddie (gk).

Scorers: James (40), Fitzgerald (64), Binns (81).

Booked: Cadmore.

Salisbury team: Bittner; Clohessy, Turley, Prosser, Spence; Sinclair, Anderson, Clarke (c), Flood (O’Hara, 75); Tubbs (Gray, 90), Webb (Glover, 82).

Subs (not used): Cox, Porter (gk).

Scorers: Tubbs (44, 49, 84), Flood (52).

Booked: Anderson.

Att: 429.

Ref: M. McLaughlin (Luton).

MATT Tubbs’ hat-trick sent Salisbury City to a thrilling 4-3 win at Hayes & Yeading United on Monday.

The unchanged Whites line-up made most of the early running, with Chris Flood’s goalbound shot deflecting off Tubbs who was flagged for offside after just seven minutes.

Tubbs scuffed wide when he was in on goal after 11 minutes and Luke Prosser saw a header tipped over by Simon Overland ten minutes later.

Tubbs got in behind the defence again but was stretching and jabbed wide on 28 minutes.

Dale Binns served a warning when he flashed a low shot past the far post from a tight angle after 36 minutes, and four minutes later Esmond James opened the scoring when the ball broke for him in the box and he drilled it low across goal.

Salisbury were level just a minute before the interval when Darrell Clarke cleverly flicked over Overland and headed goalwards where Tubbs nodded in on the goal-line, and Prosser headed Sean Clohessy’s deep free kick the wrong side of the near post in added time.

Rob Sinclair was felled on the edge of the box after a powerful run, and Clarke laid off the free kick for Tubbs to blast in his second under the keeper in the 49th minute.

Tubbs turned provider three minutes later when he sent in a low cross from the right which Flood poked in at the near post.

Scott Fitzgerald gave the Londoners a lifeline when he applied the finishing touch to George Daly’s driven volley on 64 minutes.

Tubbs had a good effort from a tight angle saved a minute later and headed Clohessy’s cross over at the near post after 70 minutes, either side of the second break the referee instigated due to the hot conditions.

Tubbs was irrepressible and he shot too close to Overland after cutting inside a defender on 71 minutes.

Ram Marwa miscued, presenting an easy save for James Bittner in the 77th minute, and two minutes later substitute Robert Gradwell ended a spell of head tennis in the Whites box with a tame header.

Binns grabbed an equaliser when he burst down the right and fired in off the far post after 81 minutes.

Tubbs was not done though, and he latched onto Clarke’s defence-splitting pass to lash a shot inside the near post with six minutes to go, sending the travelling fans behind that goal into raptures.

Substitute Danny Glover could have got his first for the club with two minutes to go when he turned and took the ball forward but shot well off target, and Tubbs’ sidefooted effort was easily saved in stoppage time.

“As confident as he (Tubbs) is, a lack of goals does affect him,” said manager Tommy Widdrington.

“He is so persistent though and when you work hard, the chances come.

“Previously we have not been able to recoil and go again when we’ve been pegged back, but we did that today. It could have ended 8-3.”

Widdrington reflected on the referee’s unusual decision to call for a drinks break in each half: “He said to us as we exchanged teamsheets that he might stop it a couple of times, so that was fine.

“The trouble with that for us was that when it got to 90 minutes, we had five more to play.

“It felt like there were 20 minutes left after we scored our fourth.”