Magic Medlock savours five-goal blast

The 24-year-old forward followed a first half hat-trick with two more in the second half as United hammered Peacehaven & Telscombe 6-0 at The Pilot Field on Easter Monday.

Medlock became the first United player to score five in a match since Frankie Sawyer in the 5-2 victory at home to Billericay Town on October 14, 2008 and only the second to do it since the 1960s.

He said: “I suppose it probably was (my best day in a United shirt). It was good for us to win and to score five goals as well doesn’t happen very often. I think I’ve scored four a few times, but I’ve never scored five in adult football.”

Medlock selected the first goal - a header into the far corner from Liam Wilson’s cross - as his favourite after United made it four consecutive home league wins, a sequence in which they’ve scored 16 goals and conceded only one.

“It was a good response to Saturday,” he continued. “It was obviously disappointing to lose 3-0 (against Faversham Town), but we came out, scored an early goal and kicked on from there really. It was a good response from everyone.”

The five-goal blast took Medlock’s tally for the season to 25 in 38 appearances - the highest by any Hastings player since Terry White hit 32 in 1999/2000.

He is now up to fifth in the division’s scoring charts with 22 league goals and has scored 11 in nine games since returning from holiday.

“The break did me good,” Medlock went on. “It’s a case of getting in the right places, working hard, keeping myself fit off the pitch and confidence really. Once you get one or two, you feel like you’re going to score every game.”

Monday’s win has left United one place and two points outside the Ryman Football League Division One South play-off spots with five games remaining.

“We’ve been in and around it (the play-offs) all season and I’ll be disappointed if we don’t get there,” Medlock added.

“I think we’ve got to win every game. The last month, six weeks we’ve not been in the greatest form, but if we can win five of the last six we could go into the play-offs flying.”

If they are to make the top five, United will need to find the consistency in the last few weeks of the season which has proved frustratingly elusive throughout the campaign.

“When we concede our heads go down, but once we get ahead I think we tend to win games,” Medlock said. “Hopefully we can build on that good victory and finish the season strongly.”

United manager Garry Wilson said: “Billy had a poor game Saturday (in the 3-0 defeat against Faversham Town), as did everybody else, but he’s a goalscorer and that (the five goals) is something to be proud of.”

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