PETERSFIELD Town’s hat-trick hero Luke Kendall has paid tribute to the man who has given him the chance to prove his credentials as a goalscoring midfielder.

Kendall ran towards coach Mark Summerhill to celebrate his goals against league leaders Andover Town last Saturday.

And he revealed if it wasn’t for a chat the pair had recently, the player may well have been displaying his goalscoring talents for another club.

Kendall explained: “I ran over to Mark and celebrated with him as a thank you because not long ago he convinced me to stay at the club and to give him a chance to improve things – so that was my thank you to him.

“I am very pleased to be top goalscorer at the club this season, especially as I’m playing in central midfield.

“I’ve always considered myself a goalscoring midfielder and now I am proving that.”

Kendall’s treble in the Rams’ 5-3 defeat at Andover last Saturday took his tally for the season to 11 goals from 28 appearances for the Wessex Premier Division strugglers.

After Kendall on the club’s top goalscorer list is Luke Walker – who left the club recently – with only four goals.

Kendall is disappointed his hat-trick didn’t help Petersfield pick up any points on their travels at the weekend but he is seeing signs of improvement in the team.

He added: “Of course I am pleased to have scored a hat-trick against a team who are top of the league and challenging for the title.

“However, I am equally disappointed as we gifted them three goals which resulted in them taking the three points which I felt we deserved.

“Unfortunately it’s not unrealistic to say relegation is looking likely, however, I will continue to play how I’m playing and hopefully keep improving and scoring goals for the team.

“If we perform like we did for 90 minutes instead of just the 45 minutes against Andover, then who knows what could happen.”