Elgin City assistant manager Jim Weir praised four-goal hero Kane Hester after he fired the Black and Whites to a thumping 5-1 victory over Annan Athletic.
Hester opened the scoring on seven minutes, before teeing up winger Dylan Lawrence to double the lead five minutes before half-time.
Hester went on to knock home a further three in the second period – including a goal of the season contender to seal the points just eight minutes after the interval.
“At times we had to weather the storm, particularly in the first half, because Annan, for long spells, had more possession and looked threatening,” Weir said.
“But when you have someone like Kane Hester in your team, and young Dylan Lawrence, with that type of pace you’re always going to cause teams problems.
“I thought Dylan Lawrence’s first half performance was going to be hard to beat but you see what Hester gives you.
“It’s probably the best individual striker performance I’ve witnessed from the touchline so credit to him and the rest of the players.”
Lawrence played a big part in the opening goal, racing down the right wing and crossing for Hester to nod in from six yards.
Annan had a couple of half chances to level – the best of which saw Tommy Goss’ free-kick easily gathered by keeper Daniel Hoban.
But Elgin went into the break with a 2-0 lead after a great strike from Lawrence. Hester won the ball in midfield and played it wide for the youngster to cut inside and curl into the far corner.
The points appeared to be all but won on 53 minutes when Hester scored the pick of his bunch. A long ball up the park was hit first time by the striker, leaving visiting keeper Allan Fleming without a hope.
The visitors did get themselves on the scoresheet with 10 minutes to play when Tam Muir knocked in from close range after a deflected shot to reduce the deficit at 3-1.
But it was to be Hester’s day and he rounded off the scoring with two further strikes to score four in one match for City for the first time.
First, on 84 minutes, he pounced to knock home from eight yards after his own shot was saved.
And then on 85 minutes Annan’s central defenders collided with each other allowing Hester to walk through and drill the ball low and hard past Fleming.
“Kane terrorises and frightens defenders with his pace,” Weir added.
“At times he can look frustrating because he can look disinterested, but the thing with Hester is that you never get a minute to switch off.
“His second goal, that he took over his shoulder when the goalie was running out, is just a wonderful finish.
“It was fitting that he got the four goals.
“It was important after last week’s win over Peterhead that we built on that.
“Elgin have been on the receiving end of quite a few defeats to Annan so it was nice to get the better of them.”
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