It’s been a big week for young Everton striker Lewis Dobbin.
After training under Rafa Benitez with the first-team this month, the 18-year-old hit his first-ever hat-trick for the club as the Toffees’ Under 23s claimed a 4-2 victory against Warrington Rylands.
Dobbin’s first came when he was alert to a poor back pass and intercepted the ball to slot home on 13 minutes.
After half-an-hour, the pacey frontman had his brace, rounding the goalkeeper after latching on to a pin-point Luke Butterfield through ball.
Then, with ten minutes of the first period remaining, he danced through the Rylands backline and scored with aplomb.
Delighted with his tally, Dobbin tweeted on Tuesday night, “More minutes, first hat-trick!”
It’s encouraging to see the Stoke-born England youth international on the scoresheet considering he was sidelined for four months last season after picking up a knee injury in training back in January.
Following the win, Under 23s coach David Unsworth told Everton’s official website, “It doesn’t matter if it’s pre-season or the last game of the season, strikers like to score goals and Lewis has started really well.
“He had a little taste with the first-team on Saturday and he’s followed it up with, not just his goals tonight, but also a great first-half performance.”
Now back, fit and firing, Dobbin will be keen to maintain that scoring form. If you’re hoping to catch the eye, a 23-minute hat-trick should do the trick.
Unsworth meanwhile, was pleased with his side’s display after a gruelling week-and-a-half.
“We’ve really worked the lads hard for the last 10 days,” he revealed.
“The volume of work left them a bit leggy going into the game, which is par for the course. It was a good workout and when we made the changes they came back into it.
“They’re a good team and I’d like to thank them for stepping in at the 11th hour to play the game after we had an opponent cancel on us.”
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