Somerset Eagles 3 Boulevard 1

Lethal Lamaul Crofton singlehandedly kept Somerset Eagles in the top flight with a clinical hat-trick at White Hill Field yesterday.

The cultured frontman brought Eagles back from the dead after they were staring relegation in the face with just under 15 minutes left.

A defeat would have sent his side down, but captain courageous summoned all his energy to first cancel out Raymond Burgess' 61st minute opener with a vicious low drive in the 74th minute, then put Eagles ahead with a solo effort with seven minutes remaining and finally put the icing on the cake with a cool injury-time third.

The victory, which had never looked likely until Crofton equalised, saw Eagles finish the season on 18 points and clear of First Division-bound local rivals Somerset Trojans and PHC.

Coach Marc Bean, while stressing it was a team effort that had won the day, took time out to praise his three-goal hero.

"He is my captain but he is under-rated," he said. "Hats off to him. That is what captains are supposed to do. He got us a hat-trick today when we really needed it."

Need it they did, especially after Burgess had put the Blazers ahead to spark what had been a lacklustre game into life.

Catching William Winslow off his line he sent a high ball over the stranded `keeper's head and into the back of the net.

But Boulevard, who were playing only for pride, failed to kill off their opponents and allowed them back into the game when Crofton's shot from long range just crept over line. Blazers were furious, claiming goalkeeper Shejuan Swan had prevented the ball from going over, but after consulting with his linesman, referee Lyndon Raynor allowed the goal to stand.

Eagles were flying high now and as Blazers began arguing among themselves, they took full advantage. A long ball out of defence skidded past two defenders and Crofton used his pace to reach it. He still had a lot to do, but Swan made his task that much easier by refusing to come off his line to narrow the striker's angle. As a result the number nine was able to pick his spot and fire low into the back of the net to spark jubilation around the ground.

The result was still not in the bag, but Eagles were able to look forward to another season of Premier soccer when, in time added on, Crofton came up with a moment of pure magic. From outside the box he took advantage of the now despondent Swan, making him appear more like an ugly duckling than the regal bird he is named after, by lobbing him nonchalantly with the outside of his boot.

"Many people say the word heart, but few really know what it means," said coach Bean, assessing the magnitude of the win afterwards. "This game today was a reflection of the season. We have been through a lot of adversity and difficult circumstances.

"Today represents success. We stayed up and, hopefully, next season we will learn from our experiences, doing away with the negatives, build on the positives and be much more competitive."

Som. Eagles: W.Winslow, M.Dill, K.Simmons, M.Hunt, R.Hill (J.Tucker, 72 mins), A.Lambert (L.Woods, 84 mins), S.Simmons, M.Butterfield, S.Dill, N.Smith, L.Crofton.

Boulevard: S.Swan (M.Pace, 90 mins), R.Wilson, L.Stevens, T.Trott, A.Caisey, T.Walker, C.Trott, J.Samuels, F.El Karfa (M.Gibbons, 60 mins), R.Burgess (M.Parsons, 82 mins), S.Crockwell.

Bookings: S.Simmons (Eagles); J.Samuels (Boulevard).

Men of the match: L.Crofton (Eagles); R.Burgess (Blazers).

Referee: Lyndon Raynor.