Connor McLaren hit top form as Jeanfield Swifts pushed through the Premier Division gears on Wednesday.
The Riverside attacker netted three, Jamie Reid the other, in a comfortable 4-0 home victory against Whitehill Welfare.
Manager Ross Gunnion, who was able to welcome back a strengthened squad, praised the performance of McLaren.
“Connor can be a harsh critic of himself and maybe feels he isn’t doing his job if not scoring or creating chances,” he said.
“But one thing you get is 100 per cent every game and the goals come as a result of how hard he worked. He merited the three goals.
“He takes shots at goal, commits defenders and attacks teams. He has definitely been a top performer.”
That is now back-to-back wins for Swifts following a slow start to the season.
“We had a number of players out in our first game but that doesn’t excuse the performance,” Gunnion said.
“In the second game against Tynecastle, we probably should’ve won.
“But you can’t be too critical of an away point in Edinburgh on a Tuesday night.
“Slowly but surely we’ve been bringing a full squad back in and you can see the team starting to gel.
“We managed to bring Scott Smith back in from the start on Wednesday. Not having him in the first three games was a blow.
“Even though we ran out comfortable winners, there is still a lot more to come from us.”
Swifts are on home duty again this weekend and welcome Dunbar United to the Riverside.
Gunnion and Jeanfield Swifts have thanked Reg McLaren for his contribution. He is now heading off to America on a football scholarship.
