‘I’ll take them all,’ says City’s Hemel hat-trick hero Stearn
Right foot, left foot, backside.
It’s not quite the classic perfect hat-trick, but Ross Stearn won’t be too bothered.
The Bath City winger bagged his second treble of the season to seal Bath City’s comfortable 3-0 success at Hemel Town at the weekend.
The 28-year-old made an instant impact from the bench, scoring with his first touch in fortunate circumstances.
“You don’t often score off your backside, but I’ll take them all,” he laughed.
“It was a solid away performance today. I think we looked on top throughout the game.
“It was just waiting for our chance to go in.
“Luckily, I’ve come off the bench and with my first touch, I didn’t know much about it, hit me and went in the far corner.
“We’ll take them all, it helped us g-o on and win the game comforta bly.”
City had drawn their last three at Vauxhall Road, with Stearn also involved in a similar outcome with Sutton United in 2016, where the hosts’ goalkeeper, Jamie Butler, scored with a wind-assisted clearance.
“It’s a tough place to come, this, with whichever team I’ve been with,” Stearn said.
“It’s always windy. The pitch is always good, but the conditions changed the game a bit.
“We managed it well and were well worthy of three points.”
Stearn agreed with manager Jerry Gill’s post-match assessment of an improved second half, with shooting uphill benefitting them.
H-e added: “It’s tough. It’s a simi lar slope to ours at Twerton, maybe not quite as much.
“It was almost easier in the second half because we knew we could get in behind them. Me and Fred [Hinds] were making runs in behind, Ryan [Brunt] was holding it up top, doing really well.
“A lot of balls went astray in the first half, purely to do with the ball speed. It was tough to get in behind because it just ran through or ran out of play.”
It’s 14 goals in the season for the Bristolian, who has two hat-tricks and two doubles since signing for a third time in the summer.
Having been a regular up to Christmas, Stearn has been on the bench a couple of times since.
Saturday was the 44th time in t-hree spells he’d entered as a sub stitute in a league game, but he hopes his treble might reinstall a starting place.
“It’s certainly not going to do any harm,” he said. “There’s no hiding that I’m disappointed if I don’t play.
“I play as I train. I work hard, I want to be in the team every week but you understand in football that doesn’t happen.
“We’ve got a great bunch, we’re a tight knit group. If you’re left out, which I’ve been for the last two weeks, you’re disappointed, don’t get me wrong.
“But my attitude is still good, like everyone else’s.
“Ryan hasn’t had a start for a while but he comes back in and he’s been excellent today.”
The win was another step in City consolidating a play-off place in a tightly congested battle behind joint leaders Torquay and Woking.
“With nine games to go, we need to stay in there,” Stearn said. “That was the objective at the start of the season.
“We’re in there at the minute on merit, because we deserve to be in there. That’s because of everyone, not just me or anyone else that’s played up front.
“We’ve got a team ethic here, all working in the right direction.
“It’s to do with everyone pulling in the right direction, turning up to training; we’re all in it together.
“It’s nice to come on and score three because it doesn’t do me any harm, but the three points is the major thing today, which we needed to get.”
The praise for the team included the defence, Ryan Clarke recording h-is 13th league shutout of the sea son with City boasting the fewest goals against in National League South.
“I think our defence with Clarkey in behind have been immense all season,” Stearn said. “It’s probably the reason why we’ve done so well.
“We probably get the plaudits for scoring the goals but having the best defensive record in the league doesn’t go unnoticed by the players in front of them.
“Whoever has played have been magnificent. It helps us massively up front because you’ve got a solid base to build from.”