hat-trick in Bristol City colours on Saturday, helping his club to a 4-0 win over struggling Notts County.

All the goals came in the first half as Goater hit City's first, third and fourth in the seventh, 17th and 45th minutes. The first two goals were from headers and the third from a volley in the box following a corner.

The headline in one of Britain's national newspapers yesterday read: "Hot Shot Goater'' after the performance kept City climbing up the Second Division table.

"Prior to this game I hadn't scored for five games, but this puts my goal tally to about a goal every other game,'' said Goater yesterday.

"That's the ratio which it has to be if I'm to reach the tally of 25 that I have set myself. I've done it in the last two seasons and I'm in a better team so I should, if not equal it, then better it.

"The good thing is even when I have not been scoring for a few games we tend to have other players chipping in and scoring goals which has enabled us to stay in the top half of the table.'' Barbados born winger Greg Goodrich has managed five goals so far while two midfielders have two each. Goater plays alongside 21-year-old Australian international Paul Augustino in a 4-4-2 formation.

It was Goater's first hat-trick in the English League since he struck four for Rotherham on April 9, 1994 in a 7-0 rout of Hartlepool. This is his third hat-trick as an England pro and the goals lifted his total to 10 for the season, making him one of the top three scorers in the Second Division.

The result also kept City within striking distance of the division leaders.

They are currently ninth in the standings with 24 points, just eight behind leaders Brentford.

The 29 goals Bristol City have scored make them the highest scoring team in the division while their defensive record has improved considerably with four straight clean sheets.

With home crowds averaging about 9,000 a game, City boast one of the best attendance records in the division. And Goater feels that could increase to about 12,000 if the team manage to get into the top five.

"At home we seen to be scoring threes and fours so the fans are delighted as well as the players and manager,'' said Goater of the team's home form.

"Right now there is a big buzz, as it was at the beginning of the season.

"At the end of the day they'll judge me by the goals that I finish up with and say `he was a good buy or he wasn't'. We could get promoted and Shawn end up with 10 goals and they could say he wasn't worth the money.'' Meanwhile, fellow Bermudian Kyle Lightbourne's team, Walsall, were denied three vital points when visitors Stockport scored an equaliser with the last kick of the game to earn a 1-1 draw on Saturday. Kevin Wilson scored Walsall's goal in the first half and Lightbourne had a second half effort cleared off the line from a corner.

"We're not scoring enough goals at the moment,'' said Lightbourne who struck his fifth goal of the season in the previous match against leaders Brentford who came back to earn a 1-1 draw and preserve their unbeaten home record.

Walsall are seventh from the bottom, with 16 points from 15 matches.

Shawn Goater