Devon St Luke's Bowl Report | Elburton Villa 1-3 Argyle

Joe Hatch’s hat-trick saw Argyle comfortably beat Elburton Villa 3-1 at Haye Road in the Devon St Luke’s Bowl. 

The forward continued his fine form by tapping home all three of Argyle’s goals for a youthful side that included first-team members Jack Matthews and Caleb Roberts. 

Jamie Lowry’s side took the lead just before the half-hour mark, when Hatch picked up a loose ball following a deflected Roberts’ shot, rounded the Elburton keeper and slotted home into an open goal. 

The Welshman doubled Argyle’s lead within the opening 10 minutes of the second half, tapping Fletcher Poole’s ball across the box into the bottom corner of the hosts’ goal. 

Elburton grabbed a goal back through Levi Landricombe just after the 80th-minute mark. The forward calmly placed his shot into the bottom corner, past the diving Jack Flower, but it was not enough to force a comeback.  

Hatch secured his hat-trick three minutes before the full-time whistle, tapping home a cross in a finish similar to his previous goal. 

Head Coach Lowry was delighted with the way his team performed, whilst also praising Elburton in a successful evening for the Greens. 

“I’m delighted with the boys' application and attitude going into the game,” Lowry said. “It was a great opportunity to have lots of the ball and work on our patterns that we try and implement with the Under-18s.   

“I’m pleased again for Joe. To score three goals is a massive positive. He's in a really rich vein of form at the moment, but also delighted for Jack Matthews and Caleb Roberts, from the first team, to get minutes as well. It’s nice to have them around the environment and dressing room to give the boys a bit of a lift.  

“Thank you to Elburton for the hospitality and we appreciate them looking after us. They made us feel welcome and it was nice to play against a local team that were extremely supportive of the young boys, which was nice.”