Rob Denness scored a 17-minute hat-trick for Hollands & Blair in their 10-1 SCEFL Premier Division win over Welling Town

Rob Denness bagged a 17-minute hat-trick for rampant Hollands & Blair on Saturday to vindicate the manager’s decision to bring him back to the club.

Blair manager Luke Jessup says buying Denness a late-night pint was “the best £3.50 I’ve spent” after persuading the striker to initially return to the reserves and then step back into the first team.

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Jessup recently made the switch from reserve boss to first-team manager and he took Denness with him. On Saturday he watched the striker put opponents Welling Town to the sword in quick time. Blair won the match 10-1!

The Blair boss has revealed how Denness ended up back and Blair.

Jessup said: “He had been with Snodland Town, got a couple of injuries and stepped away a bit to concentrate on getting fit and it just came about after a fortunate beer one late Saturday night when he popped in. He said he wasn’t sure but in the end we tempted him in.

“It was the best £3.50 I’ve ever spent on that pint!

“He didn't take a lot of convincing to come back to be honest, but when you get to a certain age in life you have to start making good decisions about your body and what you’re capable of.

“We watched him in the reserves and he did wonders for us. We always had an inclination that he might be able to do it further up. He went straight from the reserves to the first team when we took over.

“I feel like a proud father again, I was over the moon for him. His wife was there and his boy to watch him score the hat-trick and I was blown away for him. There’s the old saying, form is temporary and class is permanent, he is that guy.

“He hasn’t been well the last couple of weeks but he came back on Saturday like he was 10 years younger! He was