Jon Harland
Harry Gardner was the hat-trick hero as Hampton & Richmond demolished Welling United 5-0 at Beveree Stadium to guarantee safety in the National League South.
Goals from Gardner, Zanda Siziba, and Mauro Vilhete lifted morale in TW12 despite a late Archy Taylor sending off, ending a seven-game losing streak for the Beavers, who remain 18th in the league.
The Wings suffered their fifth consecutive loss on the road and have conceded the most goals in the division, leaving them rooted in 22nd and seven points adrift from safety.
Hampton & Richmond flew out of the traps as Alfie Williams beat his man down the left in the opening minute and cut back to Siziba, whose first-time effort was just shy of the post.
Josh Keeya sent Gardner through on goal two minutes later, and the latter selflessly squared to an unmarked Siziba.
Siziba made no mistakes this time, calmly finding the back of the net to give his side an early lead.
Less than a minute later, Gardner doubled Hampton & Richmond’s lead after Siziba latched onto a sloppy pass from the Wings.
The Zimbabwean showed tidy footwork before finding Gardner, who stroked the ball past Rhys Lovett from close range.
Beavers hadn’t scored in three consecutive games, but found themselves two goals to the good after four minutes.
Welling looked to reduce the deficit through Sahid Kamara, cutting onto his left and unleashing a vicious strike destined for the top left corner, but for Max Merrick, pulling off an outstanding save at full stretch.
Gardner stunned the Bev before the half-hour mark, scoring a screamer for his second and Hampton & Richmond’s third.
The midfielder tenaciously won possession before smashing the ball into the top right corner from some distance.
Tensions flared between the Welling players before half time, as Lovett shoved his teammate, Maxwell Statham, after words were exchanged.
James Roberts' low, dipping strike was parried by Lovett shortly after the interval, leaving Gardner with the freedom of TW12 to nod the ball into an empty net and secure his hat-trick, and make it 4-0.
Wings’ Dan Martin had an effort hit the post before a scramble ensued in the box after an hour, but the Beavers eventually cleared their lines.
It clearly wasn’t meant to be for Welling, as a strike from Kamara hit both posts a minute later before Merrick scooped the ball up.
It looked incredibly tight, and the visitors were furious that a goal wasn’t awarded, but the linesman didn’t deem the ball to have crossed the line.
Substitute Jonathon Page was through on goal in the 75th minute, but his effort was tame and rolled under the ‘keeper.
The ball was loose, however, and an onrushing Vilhete couldn’t miss, making it 5-0 to send the Bev into ecstasy.
Alan Julian’s side had to finish the game with 10 men after Taylor bizarrely received a second yellow for what the referee must have deemed time wasting over a corner.
It didn’t impact the scoreline, and the referee blew the full-time whistle to chants of “We’ve got our Hampton back” from the Beavers’ faithful.
Results have been tough to swallow in recent weeks, but the players had their swagger back and played the scintillating football that got Julian within touching distance of the playoffs a few months ago.
Beavers will hope to carry that confidence into Saturday’s clash with Dorking Wanderers at Meadowbank for a 3 pm kick-off and diminish Marc White’s title ambitions.