SUBSTITUTE Owen Pritchard came off the bench to score a second-half hat-trick as league leaders Ivybridge Town eased to a 6-0 home win over Dartmouth in the South West Peninsula League at Erme Valley on Easter Saturday, writes Graham Hambly.

Nearly 400 spectators were treated to a closely contested first half in which Ivybridge had to wait until the 40th minute before opening the scoring with a shot from Connor Rush, who came on as an early substitute.

The second half saw Ivybridge take control following the introduction of substitutes Pritchard and Bailey Mabin.

Pritchard increased the lead in the 63rd minute with a header from a corner on the left and added another with an angled shot 11 minutes later.

Mabin, who made a significant impact following his introduction to the game, was rewarded with a goal from a smartly executed finish in the 78th minute and Pritchard completed his hat-trick with a shot three minutes later.

Rush then rounded off the scoring with his 11th goal of the season in the first minute of added time.

Ivybridge might well have added a few more goals to their score but for a number of excellent saves by Joe Moroney, who had an outstanding game in the Dartmouth goal.

Ivybridge need one more point to be mathematically certain of winning the championship, but join-manager Wayne Gamble says, “We still have lots to play for. We want to finish with as many points and score as many goals as possible.”