Former Portsmouth favourite Brett Pitman hits third Wessex League hat-trick in seven matches to take seasonal tally past the 30-goal mark

The former Pompey favourite now has a stunning 26 goals in just 18 league starts after his latest treble in a 3-0 home win over Blackfield & Langley.

If he continues his current scoring ratio over the entire 38-game season, he will equal Andy Forbes’ 2003/04 all-time Wessex Premier record of 55 strikes - but having played four fewer matches.

Pitman had previously struck a hat-trick in a 3-2 win at Portland and netted four times in a 8-1 destruction of rock bottom Alresford.

In all competitions, the 34-year-old now has 32 goals in just 22 starts plus another two off the bench.

Horndean had narrowed the Royals’ lead to five points, having played the same amount of games, after winning 2-1 against Moneyfields at Westleigh Park last Friday.

But Pitman’s goals ensured Portchester completed a 17th win in 18 league matches. As a result, they remain one of only six clubs unbeaten in league action across the top 10 tiers of English football in 2022/23 alongside Spalding (Northern Premier League Midlands), Reading City (Combined Counties North), Loughborough Students (United Counties League North), Andover New Street (Wessex Division 1) and Shoreham (Southern Combination Division 1).

‘It’s fantastic to play 18 games and only drop two points,’ said Royals boss Dave Carter. ‘Of course it’s going better than expected - you don’t really expect to nearly win every game.’

Blackfield boss Craig Stanley told Carter he had the strongest squad available to him since taking charge a few weeks ago.

And there was only one goal in it until man of the match Scott Jones twice set up Pitman in the final 10 minutes.

Pitman’s first goal had separated the teams at the interval on a pitch which was ‘touch and go until kick off’ due to the cold snap.

‘In the first half we missed opportunities,’ said Carter. ‘It could have been four or five at half-time. Marley Ridge could have had a hat-trick, Brett Pitman missed a good chance, the keeper made some good saves from Scott Jones.

‘James Cowan clipped the bar in the second half, Brett missed a chance he’d normally score.

‘While it was 1-0 you do wonder if it’s going to be one of those games where the opposition nick one from a set piece.

‘But our quality shone through. We have scored a lot of late goals this season, the lads are very fit.’

The nearest Blackfield came in the first half was when Sam Woodward shot just wide in the first half, after Pitman’s opener.

They didn’t really threaten after that until Junior Kamara struck the woodwork in the closing stages.

Pitman, meanwhile, is the first Wessex League player to reach 30 goals this season in all competitions. In Division 1, Ross Cook (Andover New Street) is leading the way with 27.

The man with 182 Championship and EFL goals on his career CV, though, isn’t the leading marksman in non-league football. Down in the 10th tier, Aiden Rutledge of Birtley Town has fired 36 Northern League second tier goals for Birtley Town, and 38 in all competitions.