Special third goal was one of my finest, says hat-trick hero Harness
Marcus reflects on a treble capped by a sublime individual strike in Pompey’s much-needed victory at Burton. NEIL ALLEN reports...
ASECOND career hat-trick – sealed by one of the best goals of his career.
Marcus Harness’ Pirelli Stadium return was a memorable occasion – and a first league victory of the campaign for under-fire Pompey.
The 24-year-old netted a treble while on duty for Burton Albion in a 4-0 win at Rochdale in January 2019.
This time the Brewers were on the receiving end of a hat-trick as Pompey triumphed 4-2 on Saturday.
Harness’ haul consisted of a first-time shot from the edge of the area, a backheel and, of course, that remarkable third goal.
Collecting a pass from Ronan Curtis, he backheeled the ball past John-Joe O’Toole before swivelling and clipping a shot over the advancing goalkeeper.
A stunning finish in a sublime hat-trick.
Harness told The News:
‘As a kid, I scored quite a few hat-tricks, but I guess they only really matter on this stage – and that was the second of my career.
‘Of those on Saturday, the third goal was one of my better ones as a professional.
‘There wasn’t really much going through my mind, I thought I’d see what would happen and was playing with freedom.
‘It always helps when you have one or two goals already, you have a bit more confidence and things like that can happen.
‘I’m glad I did, it’s one of my best.
‘I’m not really sure what happened with the second goal, I can’t really remember!
‘I recall it dropped in the box from the corner and I couldn’t find anybody to
pass to, so I just thought I’d backheel it and see what happened. Then it ended up in the back of the net!
‘I was laughing. When you don’t expect it to go in and it does, it’s always nice.’
In addition to his treble, there was also a missed opportunity on the stroke of half time.
It arrived when Ryan Williams’ cross from the right
was pushed out by Burton goalkeeper Ben Garratt.
But Harness couldn’t quite capitalise from close range with the goal at his mercy.
He added: ‘I was about a yard ahead of it.
‘If I was a yard slower it might have hit me and just gone in, but the ball was past me before I could react.
‘Obviously being 2-1 down going into half time was disappointing when I could have levelled it, but you forget about it and move onto the next one. You can’t do anything about it.’
Burton boss Jake Buxton was left seething from his side’s defensive performance in their 4-2 home defeat at the hands of Pompey.
The Brewers possess the worst defensive record in the division, having conceded 11 goals in their opening four league fixtures.
Buxton told Burton’s website: ‘We have looked vulnerable from set-plays for a while now.
‘We walk through them on a Friday, look to do the work but we need more emphasis on the demand for each player to stop his man scoring, stop him getting a clean header.
‘At the minute we have a weak underbelly.
‘Enough is enough. I’m really annoyed with the set-plays and we will be making people accountable for that.
‘Myself and the staff will be making sure we will get to the bottom of it.’
‘Of those on Saturday, the third was one of my better ones as a pro.’
Marcus Harness