The planets are aligned this week as seven of them - Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Venus, Neptune, Mercury, and Saturn – are all briefly visible in the evening sky, something that will not happen again until 2040.
It was with this backdrop that Lewis Ludford-Ison produced an out of this world hat-trick on Tuesday evening to give Stratford Town a 3-0 victory over AFC Sudbury in the Pitching In Southern League Premier Central.
Each of his goals was packed with star quality. The first came early on when he found space to finish off a well-worked corner routine, his second was a classic bicycle kick, perfectly executed, and then the encore, in the final minute, a lob from the halfway line.
It was a perfect way to complete a first-ever senior hat-trick for Ludford-Ison and secure The Bards their fourth straight home win to strengthen their position within the leading pack, just three points off top spot.
“It was such a proud night for me,” Ludford-Ison told us. “Not only was it my first hat-trick in senior football, but to do it in that fashion was a fantastic feeling - I was over the moon!
“First and foremost, it was a huge three points for us and a deserved victory. We’ve turned our home form around this season, that was our fourth consecutive win here and with two more home games on the horizon in quick succession on Saturday-Tuesday, we have to keep this form going now.
“The boys are buzzing; there’s a great atmosphere around the place, but, of course, we can’t get too carried away and just have to keep taking it one game at a time.
“As for myself, this hat-trick has given me a massive confidence boost. I was really pleased with the goals; the first finished off something that we’ve been working on in training, whilst for the second it’s always nice to see those overhead kicks go in; I tried one in the previous game and the lads said; ‘what are you doing?’ – I knew that this time if I tried to head it, it probably wouldn’t have gone in.
“Then for the third goal, I’d noticed the ‘keeper high off his line all game and just thought I’d try my luck and it went in like a rocket!
“Hopefully we can build on this now. Our ultimate aim is promotion and to be able to achieve that we have to stay humble and just keep doing the right things on a consistent basis.
“This League is a rollercoaster and extremely competitive, so it’s exciting to see how things will pan out.”
Lewis Ludford-Ison will be hoping that he doesn’t have to wait until 2040 to see his next hat-trick as he and his team-mates prepare to face Hitchin Town at the weekend.
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