Mashiter hat-trick glory

Anchor Hotel 5 Witton Albion 1

PAUL Mashiter showed just why he is one of the hottest properties around after scoring a stunning hat-trick that completely turned this tie.

The Anchor Hotel hit-man scored three goals after the break for the Division Two leaders after Witton had threatened to cause an upset.

And it was a relief for 'Mashy' who guided his side through a tricky semi final -- and also broke his Sport Extra duck.

Three times he has appeared in the supplement -- twice with Feniscowles and once with Station -- and on each occasion he has ended up on the losing side without scoring a goal.

That appeared to be on the cards again against a Witton side who were superb in the first half.

They took an early lead, clung on to it and for the most of the half kept Mashiter quiet.

And even when the tricky striker was up-ended in the box by Paul Wilkinson, Witton's keeper Matt Nixon pulled off a great save to beat out John Hoole's well struck spot kick.

Witton's manager Michael Black deployed Stephen Taylor as a sweeper to nullify the threat of Mashiter -- and it worked.

And they were given the added bonus of an early lead when Pete Charney's cross was headed home by Dave Cullen. They then had two chances to extend their lead when Ronnie Maybin fired a shot just wide while another long-range effort by Cullen was deflected wide for a corner. But it was their defending and not their attacking that caught the eye.

Knowing Anchor would pour forward, Witton held firm and Taylor, Paul Wilkinson and David Buck were solid at the back.

Mashiter's best chance came from a free kick when his shot blasted through the wall, took a deflection and stuck in the mud, enabling Nixon to make his save.

Championship chasing Anchor received a right old blasting from their manager Shaun O'Horo at the break warning his players to buck their ideas up or they were going out of the cup -- and he was right. But the ticking off did the trick as Anchor were a different team in the second half.

Right back Dave Haworth went close with one early drive then Mark Rolfe saw his shot turned around the post by Nixon. Nick Brookes then saw another effort flash just wide.

Anchor's pressure eventually paid off but they were lucky to win a penalty for an apparent hand ball.

After Hoole's first half miss, Mashiter took over penalty duty and dually hammered the ball home.

He then turned provider and his clever flick over his head gave Steve Mullen the chance to out jump Nixon to head the ball home.

Anchor were now showing why they have not lost a game all season and their third goal was a peach. Glen Trobe picked the ball up in the centre circle and played it out wide to Rolfe who saw Mashiter make a run from back to near post and his pin point cross was emphatically headed up.

If Mashiter owed that goal to his team-mates then he competed his hat-trick all on his own. Picking the ball up just inside the Witton half, he ran at Taylor and his pace took him into the area where he hammered the ball home across Nixon and in off the far post.

By now Witton were thoroughly dejected as all their hard work in the first half counted for nothing.

Anchor introduced the colourful Stewart Nicol and within a minute he found himself free -- and clearly offside -- to race through to slot the ball past Nixon.

In the final minute, Mashiter was denied a fourth goal due to a brilliant save by Nixon who tipped his curling shot onto the post.

But after eventually breaking that Sport Extra duck and guiding his side to the final, four goals would have been greedy!