YOUNG Shawbury United striker Benji Robinson hit a hat-trick to help the Midland Football League Premier Division strugglers to a 3-0 win at AFC Wulfrunians as they climbed off the foot of the table.

The former AFC Telford United starlet bagged his treble before half-time and boss Dave Richards is hoping those goals could help with the side’s ‘great escape’.

Robinson, a prolific scorer with Telford’s Under-18s, had been playing out wide for Shawbury before the manager tweaked his line-up for the trip to mid-table Wulfs.

“We had been looking to bring a goalscorer in and someone said to me that sometimes the answer is in your own squad,” Richards explained.

“Benji had been playing out wide but was getting shoved around by the physicality of defenders in this league.

"He had scored four or five goals in his first few games for us so we got him to play down the middle.

“He came from Telford where they said he needed to work on his end product which was probably correct.

"But he took the first goal well and you could see his confidence soar.

"He came off with a massive smile on his face.

“Another pleasing thing was the way that our midfield played.

"People have said that Liam Armstrong and Keanu Cooper couldn’t play together because they were too similar.

"But they are proving people wrong and we are starting to get a grip on midfield during games.”

Robinson took just 10 minutes to open the scoring.

Through balls from Cooper and Matty Bollard then sent him in on goal as he completed his 27-minute hat-trick.

“We stayed up on 43 points last season and we’re under no illusions that we’ll need at least that this year with the strength of the clubs in the division,” Richards added.

“But we are playing with confidence and since the start of this year the lads have stepped up a gear.

"We have just played the teams in fourth, sixth and ninth and come away with seven points.

"That’s decent form and if we continue that then we should be OK especially as we have to play some of the sides in and around us.”

The Shawbury boss is hoping that his players can build on Saturday’s win and climb further away from the foot of the table.

But he admits that this weekend’s home match with Loughborough University is already in doubt.

“Ludlow played on it on Saturday and it doesn’t look good,” he admitted.

“The forecast is for rain so it doesn’t look positive which will be frustrating because the lads are buzzing and want to play again.”