Ramsgate striker Rowan Liburd scores second successive hat-trick for Isthmian South East leaders

Rowan Liburd made it back-to-back hat-tricks to keep Ramsgate on course for the Isthmian South East title.

Liburd came off the bench to score a nine-minute treble as Ramsgate beat East Grinstead 5-0 last weekend.

Handed a start at Corinthian on Saturday, he was at it again as Jamie Coyle’s side maintained their four-point lead over Chatham with just six games to go.

Liburd took time to find his feet after joining from Cheshunt for an undisclosed fee in January.

But Rams’ work with the big striker is paying off at a crucial stage of the season.

“He got dropped two weeks ago,” said Coyle. “We had a chat about what we need from him and what he needs from us in terms of the way he plays and the way we play.

“Maybe it helped leaving him out. We’ve got real competition for places and sometimes players just need to refocus.

“His reaction last Saturday was outstanding. That got him his shirt back for Saturday, and he did the same again. It’s real good timing, for him and for us.

“We know what he’s capable of. I played against him many times at Maidstone and he was always a threat.

“He’s one of the most professional lads I’ve worked with in terms of his attitude and the way he trains.

“We’ve spoken a lot on the training pitch about how we feed him and getting him to operate in central areas.

“A lot of his work when he first came in was in wide areas so we weren’t getting him in the right positions to score goals or get opportunities.

“He’s taken on board what we’ve worked on and scored six goals in two games.

“There’s never been any doubts about his ability or his attitude.

“It’s just been making sure we’re getting him in the right areas and supplying the right service.

“We weren’t doing that, hence why he wasn’t getting many