Oh no, not you again! How Cowes Sports must be sick of the sight of Horndean striker Zack Willett after latest goal spree

The former Paulsgrove striker fired a hat-trick as the ‘ruthless’ Deans romped to an 8-0 Wessex Premier victory at Five Heads Park yesterday.

Remarkably, it was his third Wessex treble against the Yachtsmen in as many games - having struck three times in last season’s two wins.

Willett’s first hat-trick was in a 9-0 away romp in October, and he followed that up with three more goals in a 4-0 home end-of-season success.

That means Horndean have netted 21 times in their last three league games against Cowes without conceding.

Since Michael Birmingham took over as Deans boss in the summer of 2016, the two sides have met 11 times in the Wessex Premier. The first was a 3-3 draw with Horndean winning the next 10 - 6-0, 4-1, 4-1, 3-1, 6-1, 6-1, 3-2, 9-0, 4-0 and now 8-0, for a combined score of 57-7.

Willett struck twice in the latest mauling as Birmingham’s men raced into a 3-0 lead inside the opening 15 minutes - Chad Field also netting.

Willett completed his hat-trick in the second half with Tommy Scutt (2) and subs Rudi Blankson and Harry Jackson joining in the fun.

‘You have to give Cowes respect, they try to play the right way,’ said Birmingham. ‘But we were ruthless. Every opportunity we had we put away.

‘I said to the players at half-time that I wanted them to be ruthless. I wanted them to show some nastiness, to go out and punish Cowes.’

They certainly did, and another plus for Horndean was a first appearance of the season for Ash Howes.

The midfielder, Deans’ skipper in recent times, came off for the bench in the second half - his first competitive outing since a summer double hernia op.

‘Ash is a character and a leader, we’ve missed him,’ said Birmingham. ‘The results might not show that, but we have.’

Horndean keeper Cameron Scott has now kept four successive Wessex clean sheets. In all, he has conceded just one goal in seven Premier League fixtures this term - the best defensive record across the 14 step 5 divisions.

Elsewhere, Deans waived a seven days notice of approach bid from divisional rivals Pagham for striker Brad Lethbridge.

The former Portsmouth forward had only made two outings for the Deans after arriving on a dual registration from Bognor Regis.

‘Brad is no problem, no trouble, but he probably came to us at the wrong time. Because of the players we’ve got in his position, I couldn’t give him the minutes he requires and that Bognor would like him to have.

‘I phoned up the Pagham and told them that, as I knew they were keen on signing Brad when we did.’

Lethbridge duly made his Pagham debut in a 1-0 Wessex Premier loss at Baffins Milton Rovers yesterday.

Fourth-placed Horndean travel to third-placed Hamble Club on Tuesday, with the hosts fresh from a 3-2 home victory over Shaftesbury.