Hat-trick hero praised as Heaton Stannington secure FA Cup progress

Heaton Stannington manager Dean Nicholson hailed hat-trick hero Sado Djalo as his treble helped his side see off Northern League club Kendal Town in an FA Cup preliminary round replay at The Willow Park.

The former Dunston UTS forward was one of Nicholson’s main summer signings and he showed by the Stan boss was so keen to secure his signature with an impressive hat-trick that marked his first goals for the club.

There were just 13 minutes on the clock when Djalo headed home from close range after getting on the end of a Cameron Gascoigne corner before the duo combined once again for the forward to double his tally with an almost identical effort just just before the half-hour mark. Kendal failed to learn their lessons from the first-half as Djalo completed his treble with a third header from a Gascoigne corner ten minutes after the restart and that appeared to kill off the tie.

‘Huge threat’

However, The Mintcakes made their Northern Premier League East Division hosts sweat as Jack Milburn and Joe Dickson got their side back into the game and set up an intriguing final 15 minutes. Any thoughts of a comeback came to an end when former Hartlepool United youngster Max Storey turned away from two Kendal players before sending a deflected effort beyond goalkeeper Matthew Bailey from the edge of the area.

However, it was the hat-trick hero that took the plaudits from his manager in the aftermath of a win that takes the Stan into the first qualifying round for the fourth time in five seasons.

He told The NLP: “He’s [Djalo] a huge threat in the air, we knew that when he signed. His work-rate and his aggression off the ball is second-to-none – but he’s a goalscorer, first and foremost, and he was a little bit disappointed after Saturday because he had a couple of chances where he would expect to score. Tonight he has put his head on three and he’s put us in the next round.”

‘We need to kickstart the season’

The win means Nicholson’s men will host Northern Counties East League side in the first qualifying round on Saturday week – but two other home games are on their agenda before their focus their attention on a bid to reach the second qualifying round for the first time since 1949. The Stan kick off their FA Trophy campaign with a first qualifying round home tie against Wythenshawe on Saturday before returning to NPL East Division action when they entertain North East rivals Ashington just under 48 hours later.

Nicholson believes the run of three consecutive home games is an opportunity for his side to ‘kickstart the season’ as they chase progress on several different fronts.

He said: “We have one defeat in six, we are happy with that. Could we have turned a couple of those draws into wins? I think we could have and should have. Did we deserve to lose at Lincoln? I don’t think we deserved to lose at Lincoln. It will be a really tough one on Saturday, we know what to expect from Wythenshawe and then with Ashington coming on Monday.

“Then it’s the cup one. We will do our homework on Knaresborough. There are no easy games, we know that, it’s three tough ones but we need to kickstart the season and hopefully three home games will do that.”

Star Man: Sado Djalo (Heaton Stannington)

Attendance: 342

Entertainment: ★★★★

Heaton Stannington: Lister, Evans (Boothroyd), Hornsby, Kanda, Milburn, Fil, Djalo (Morris), Gascoigne, Pearson (Enwere), Giraud (Storey), Errington (Hopper) Subs: All used

Kendal Town: Bailey, Russell, Sowerby, Brown, Flynn, Pilkington, Taylor, Dickson, Looker (Redmayne), Walker (Cooper), Milburn Subs: Tomlinson