BRETT Denham was Tadley Calleva’s hat-trick hero as they won a nine goal thriller at Shaftesbury, to maintain the pressure on the top sides in the Wessex League Division One.

The visitors took the lead as Grant Powell, Conner Thorne and Denham combined and his cross saw Scott Kinge open the scoring.

A 25-yard free-kick from Andrew Charsley made it 2-0 as the ball flew into the bottom corner.

The home side pulled a goal back, but a superb strike from Denham restored the two goal lead.

He was fed the ball by Thorne and Tadley’s leading scorer, took one touch, and on turn hit a half volley into the net.

Tadley made it 4-1 by the break as a ball over the top found Denham to score his second.

After the break, Chad Abrams and Thorne combined for Denham to complete an excellent hat-trick.

Thanks to an hour long second half, the home side hit back and narrowed the lead to 5-3.

Tadley defender Josh Edwards was harshly adjudged to have handled the ball, when it was blasted straight at him from two yards.

Shaftesbury scored from the spot kick, but they were unable to find an equaliser even if they played an extra 15 minutes.

After the game Tadley manager Danny Dolan said: “This was a great win against a side above us and we dominated a lot more than the scoreline suggests. It was a great display and Brett Denham was outstanding. I just do not know where the ref got the extra 15 minutes from.”

Next up for Tadley is a trip to Hythe and Dibden which has never been a happy hunting ground for Dolan.

Then on Tuesday night, they have a tough away game at third placed Baffins Milton Rovers.