On Hat Tricks

Former U21 striker Andy Jackson notched his second career hat trick in the Scottish Cup for Brechin City on Tuesday, 9th December, scoring three goals in a 4-2 win over Annan Athletic. This came more than three years after his last treble, in an 8-0 win for Morton away to Stranraer, in which the Scottish-born striker finished with four goals to his name.

What was notable about the more recent hat trick was the speed at which he managed the feat, finding the back of the net in the 4th, 11th and 27th minutes, taking 23 minutes in total to complete the task.

We've examined the record books here at Irish Abroad to see where this ranks in the history of Irish strikers' hat tricks.

Jackson's fellow former U21 striker Billy Mehmet holds the current record for the fastest hat trick, scoring three in 11 minutes for St Mirren in a bizarre 6-3 win for the Buddies against East Stirlingshire in August 2009. With the Paisley side leading 3-0, their opponents scored three times to level the scores, before Mehmet struck twice more before substitute Stephen O'Donnell also found the net to leave the final score 6-3, and the Irishman scoring more than half the goals!

James Collins and Anthony Stokes have both scored trebles in only 12 minutes, for Swindon Town and Falkirk respectively, while Collins also has the record of the longest time taken to complete his hat trick, needing 92 minutes to finish his three goals for Swindon in a 4-3 extra time win for the Robins against Stoke City in August 2012.

Stokes has the most hat tricks since we started compiling information on Irish players, the Celtic striker has collected no less than seven match balls in his career to date, including consecutive hat tricks for Falkirk in the Scottish Premier League.

So far, Adam Rooney is the only player to score a hat trick in European competition, scoring three away to Daugava Rīga in the qualifying rounds of the Europa League in July this year.

Only four midfielders have scored hat tricks while the site has been active, with a treble apiece for Liam Lawrence(Stoke City), Aiden McGeady(Celtic), Wes Hoolahan(Norwich City) and Jimmy Ryan(Accrington Stanley).

Consecutive trebles

After Eoin Doyle scored his second hat trick in consecutive games for Chesterfield, a feat never before recorded for the club (according to wikipedia anyway!), we here at Irish Abroad towers wondered who was the last Irish player to record consecutive hat tricks?

Looking through the IA database we discovered that, in the history of the site, only one player has ever matched the Spireites' striker's achievement - while on loan from Arsenal to Falkirk, Anthony Stokes scored three in a 5-1 home win against Dundee on Saturday, 28 October 2006 before going on to notch a second treble a week later in a 3-0 win over Dunfermline Athletic at East End Park.

An honourable mention must go to Kevin Doyle who scored hat tricks in consecutive home games at the Madejski Stadium for Reading in 2008, first in a 4-2 win against Crystal Palace on Saturday, 30th August, which preceded another treble in an even more impressive 6-0 victory over Sheffield Wednesday on Tuesday, 16 September. A 2-0 loss away to Ipswich, including a goal for fellow Ireland striker Jonathan Walters, split the home wins for the Royals.

A Pair Of Trebles

Eoin Doyle and Joe Mason both notched hat tricks last night, for Chesterfield and Bolton Wanderers respectively. While hat tricks for Irish players are not uncommon, two on the same day is a rare occurance. The last time two Irish players scored hat tricks on the same day was Saturday, 30th August 2008. Kevin Doyle scored three in the second half, including two in two minutes, as Reading came from behind to beat Crystal Palace 4-2 at the Madejski Stadium in the Championship, while Billy Clarke notched four goals for Darlington in a 6-0 win over Macclesfield in League Two.

Fans of Irish football did not have long to wait from the previous time a pair of boys in green had scored hat tricks, as only four days earlier, Dubliner Jon Daly and former U21 striker Billy Mehmet both scored three in the Scottish League Cup for Dundee United against Cowdenbeath and St Mirren against Dumbarton!

Here's hoping we're only waiting four days to the next pair of trebles!