Hat-trick man Pulman now looking the part

Canterbury City

Ian Pulman is back among the goals and that’s good news for Canterbury City, according to boss Ben Smith. The striker has been hampered by a knee injury for most of the season but scored a hat-trick as City won 3-1 against Southern Counties East League, Division 1 side, Eltham Palace in the Kent Reliance Senior Trophy at Chislehurst on Saturday. They are now paired at home against Eltham Palace’s landlords, Glebe, in the quarterfinals next month. Pulman tweeted: ”5th game of the season for me - 6th goal, the knee is feeling good.” Smith said: “It’s taken him time but he looked half a yard quicker, up against two mobile centre halves and back to his old self. Pully seems to have got his mojo back, if not quite firing on all cylinders but is enjoying his football.” Smith was happy to get through, adding: “It was a better team performance, we looked heavylegged against Sevenoaks the week before after the Vase defeat at Chichester.” City have been drawn at ‘home’ to landlords Ashford United in the last-16 of the Macron SCEL Challenge Cup, scheduled for midweek in early January. Smith is relishing the challenge, having run Ashford close in recent meetings, including the 1-0 defeat in August. He said: “Sooner or later, we will come out on top against them, they have strengthened this season, bringing in people like Rory Hill and adding more youth to the side.” Skipper Danny Lawrence is still two weeks away from a return after breaking two metatarsals, while Gibraltar international Mikey Yome is set to return to the squad after recovering from a heel injury for the home game against Erith Town on Saturday. City then visit Bearsted on Tuesday with Smith saying anything less than six points will be a disappointment. He said: “We have had some flat performances in the league and have not been scoring enough goals. “We are hard to beat but have been a bit lacklustre going forward.”