Jonte Smith Scores Hat Trick In Cheltenham Win
[Updated with video] Bermuda’s Jonte Smith scored a hat-trick for Cheltenham Town as they defeated West Ham Under 21′s 4 – 3 today, with the Bermudian footballer also named Man of the Match.
The club’s match report said, “Cheltenham Town completed a brilliant comeback to defeat West Ham Under 21’s 4-3 at the Jonny-Rocks Stadium on Tuesday night.
“Jonte Smith’s hat-trick as well as a George Lloyd strike cancelled out Dan Kemp’s first half brace and Bernardo Rosa’s long-ranger.
Photo courtesy of Cheltenham Town
“The hosts knew they had to win to keep their hopes of reaching the next round of the Leasing.com Trophy alive and did so thanks to a second half performance to behold.
“The Hammers took the lead on ten minutes with Kemp tapping into the open goal after receiving an unselfish square pass from Nathan Holland.
“Cheltenham did find an equaliser in the 25th minute when a fantastic lofted through ball from Ince, on his home debut, was swept home brilliantly by debutant Smith.
“West Ham took the lead for a second time and once again Holland set up Kemp for a tap in at the far post.
“The Hammers added a third after a corner kick found Rosa 25 yards out and he hit a sweet strike low into the bottom left corner.
“Smith notched his second after converting Long’s dangerous cross with a close range header to get Cheltenham back into the game.
“The striker, making his full Robins debut, drew Cheltenham level after lifting Long’s cross into the top corner to complete a perfect hat-trick.
“Minutes later, Lloyd scored his first goal at the Jonny-Rocks Stadium to complete a stunning turnaround by smashing home another Long cross high into the roof of the net.”
