Razor Sharp Chris bags Saints Hat-Trick

The New Saints 5-2 Prestatyn Town

The Champions got off to a flying start in the defence of their title by scoring five and claiming all three points in the opening Friday of the campaign, just as they did twelve months ago, also against Prestatyn Town.

The only difference this year, was that the visitors managed to score twice through debutant striker Lee Hunt, but his brace was in vain as the hosts never looked in danger at Park Hall thanks to an excellent Chris Sharp hat-trick.

With seven goals on the opening evening of the new twelve team Principality Welsh Premier League, it proved to be a lucky Friday 13th for the Saints as striker Sharp scored the first goal of the re-structured League with the opening strike on just five minutes at Park Hall.

The start got even better for Mike Davies' side just seven minutes later as Craig Jones continued his good scoring streak by doubling the advantage on twelve minutes. Jones has already scored twice in the Champions League this term and he got his league tally off the mark by beating Jon Hill-Dunt in the Seasiders' goal.

But, Prestatyn got themselves straight back into the game just a minute later as striker Lee Hunt scored a debut goal for the visitors.

The two-goal advantage was restored before the break though as Sharp scored his brace on 24 minutes to make it 3-1.

In the second-half, full-back Danny Holmes made it 4-1 to the hosts with a 58th minute strike and not to be outdone by his former Rhyl and Bangor team-mate Sharp, Lee Hunt registered his brace with eight minutes remaining. But it was the star striker Sharp who had the last laugh as he converted a 90th minute penalty to cap off a fine night for the Champions in Oswestry.

The New Saints:
Paul Harrison; Daniel Holmes, Christian Seargeant (Jamie Wood, 77'), Phil Baker, Steve Evans, Tommy Holmes, Scott Ruscoe, Barry Hogan, Chris Sharp, Matthew Williams (Alex Darlington, 64'), Craig Jones

Substitutes Not Used: Connell Rawlinson, John McKenna

Prestatyn Town:
Jonathan Hill-Dunt; Kai Edwards, Jack Lewis, Dave Hayes, Paul O'Neill, Gareth Wilson, Russ Jones (Steve Rogers, 76'), Neil Gibson, Lee Hunt, Steve Hoult (Ian Griffiths, 70'), Ross Stephens

Substitute Not Used: Chris Davies