SHOLING manager Dave Diaper was full of praise for hat-trick hero Ashley Jarvis after his side returned top of the Sydenhams Premier by fighting back to hammer Lymington Town 5-1 at the Silverlake Arena.

Jarvis struck twice in the first half after Dan Pancaldi’s opener for Lymington before rounding off his side’s 11th straight win in all competitions after further goals from Danny Cox and Barry Mason.

Sholing are now unbeaten in 16 league games. They top the table, a point ahead of Newport (IoW), and hold at least three games in hand over the chasing pack.

Jubilant Diaper said: “Ashley’s a great player who is very important to the team as he does a lot of hard work and movement off the ball that people don’t always notice.

“But he’s also brilliant at sniffing out any opportunities which he showed today with three very good, clinical striker’s goals.”

Sholing – unbeaten at home in more than a year – suffered an early shock when Pancaldi thumped in from Shane Sims’ eighth-minute corner to hand Lymington the advantage.

But the Boatmen roared back and levelled within three minutes when Jarvis, above, tapped in after Lymington ’keeper Stuart Williamson had fumbled Nick Watts’ effort.

Jarvis ensured Sholing edged a tight first half when he fired in his tenth league goal of the season following Lee Wort’s lay-off in the 44th minute.

Sholing upped the tempo after the break with Cox bundling in from Kevin Brewster’s 64th-minute corner before Mason smashed in a 20-yard strike six minutes later.

Jarvis completed his treble with 13 minutes remaining, heading in from close range after Pete Castle had flicked on Wort’s clipped cross.

Diaper added: “I’m very pleased with the win as we hung in there after going a goal down in a poor manner. But we dug deep and came back very strongly.

“Lymington came here, worked really hard as a unit and caused us a few problems. They were very energetic in the first half, but we dealt with them well.”

Lymington manager Stuart Doling said: “Sholing are a good team but I don’t think it was a 5-1 game.”

Lymington host AFC Bournemouth’s development squad tonight in the Hampshire FA Senior Cup third round. Sholing’s scheduled tie against Havant & Waterlooville has been postponed due to the Hawks’ FA Trophy replay.