HAT-TRICK hero Lee Wort made it five wins out of five for Sholing since the turn of the year.

The bad old days of 2012 looked a distant memory for the buoyant Boatmen as they swept aside Abingdon United 3-0 at the Silverlake Arena.

Having survived an early scare when Lee Bright made a goalline clearance with keeper Matt Brown beaten, Sholing went ahead on the brink of half-time as Kev Brewster slammed a free-kick off the underside of the crossbar which looked to have crossed the line as it bounced down.

But there was no need for a ‘did it or didn’t it?’ debate as Wort pounced to tuck the loose ball into the empty net.

He added two more in the final 20 minutes with the aid of some excellent deliveries from widemen Marvin McLean and Barry Mason.

Sholing, bottom of the Southern One South & West just a matter of weeks ago, are up to a healthier looking 18th with an abundance of games in hand over the clubs around them.

“We played really well,” said manager Dave Diaper.

“Abingdon are a busy team who look good going forward but, possibly, they lack a bit at the back.

“We totally deserved the three points.

“Worty’s still learning the game, but playing with two widemen suits him and being alongside Jamie Musselwhite has helped him tremendously.

“For the first goal Kev Brewster’s free kick bounced behind the line and came back out, but Worty’s put it over and the goal’s been awarded to him.

“Two of his goals today were headers, which is a bit unusual because that’s not normally one of his best attributes.”

With heavy rain falling overnight, Sholing had put sheeting down to protect the pitch. However, water collected on top of it and they had to remove over 200 gallons on Saturday morning to get the game on.

Tomorrow Diaper’s men switch their attentions to the delayed Hampshire FA Senior Cup quarter-final at Havant & Waterlooville.