‘Rough diamond’ Logan Vickers nets hat-trick as Harvest make stunning Hampshire Premier League top flight start at Paulsgrove

Just five years after the club was founded, the former Mid-Solent League champions announced themselves in the HPL Senior Division with a 3-0 win at Paulsgrove last night.

Playing out wide - first on the right, then on the left - he opened the scoring in the first half.

After Michael Granger had seen a goal ruled off by a linesman’s flag, Vickers used his pace to complete his treble and a result which will undoubtedly make some Senior clubs sit up and take notice.

‘To score three goals and keep a clean sheet, you would take that result at Paulsgrove any day of the week,’ beamed Harvest boss Steve Harris.

‘Any club in the league would take that result, it’s a tough place to go.

‘We were comfortable in defence, I don’t think they troubled us.

‘We scored three, we could have scored more. But if you’re scoring every chance you take you’re going to be playing professionally.’

Harris invited Vickers, 21, to Harvest after marking him in a City of Portsmouth Sunday League game. He was playing for Freehouse while Vickers was turning out for Fleur De Lys.

‘I was impressed with him,’ said Harris. ‘I could see there was something there, a raw talent, a little rough diamond.

‘Logan’s rapid, but we’ve got a lot of pace in the team.’

Despite Vickers’ goals, Harris awarded Harvest’s man of the match award to midfielder Fred Goldring.

He slotted into a role alongside captain Luke Steere with Remi Cake likely to be sidelined for much of the season.

Surgeons have found a bit of glass embedded in Cake’s knee - the result of a childhood accident - and will need to operate.

Harvest welcome last season’s HPL Cup winners Sway to Front Lawn this weekend for their first top flight home fixture.

‘All the games will be tough, but that’s what we want,’ Harris remarked. ‘We want games that will test us, rather than foregone conclusions.’

Last season, where they finished runners-up in Division 1 SE, Harvest won 12-0 twice, 11-0 and 9-0.

In 12 starts plus seven off the bench, Vickers - who started last season in the club’s Mid-Solent League reserves - netted six times. His performances won him Harvest’s ‘most improved’ player award.