LUKE Scope bagged a first-half hat-trick as Wokingham & Emmbrook hammered Langley 6-1 in their Berks & Bucks Senior Trophy clash on Saturday.

He is a striker in form as a week early he had netted twice in Sumas' 3-0 win over Marlow United – and he could easily have had another goal or two in this second-round tie at an extremely wet Summerleaze ground in Maidenhead.

"Luke is a confidence player, so this will do him a lot of good," joint-manager Dan Bateman told the News after the game.

"He has been playing well all season, but struggled to score goals. He scored two last week against Marlow United and now three. He was excellent."

Sumas made several changes to their starting line-up with Bateman explaining: "It is important to give more minutes to those players who have spent a lot of time on the bench recently."

It took just under six minutes for Scope to open the scoring from a chance set up by Nick Bateman.

Three minutes later their defence stood back to allow Langley's Jake Dawes to equalise, but soon afterwards Elliott Rushforth found Ben Broadhurst unmarked down the left and his long-range shot found the far corner of the net to restore the lead.

Sumas were putting some smart moves together although most petered out, but they were reluctant to push too many men forward as their Hellenic League Division One East rivals often had four men up front.

Scope made it 3-1 in the 43rd minute after his initial shot had been blocked by keeper Harry Cushen and a minute later he completed his treble.

Langley – who had the teenage Payne twins Louie and Joe both shown a yellow card – had more possession in the second half without ever really looking capable of beating keeper Sean Woodward, and it was slightly against the run of play when Ellis Day notched Wokingham's fifth after 67 minutes with a well-placed shot just out of Cushen's reach.

It needed a fine stop from the goalie to prevent Day from netting again, but the keeper was beaten again just before the final whistle with Rushforth netting with a rare header from a corner – much to the delight of the Wokingham fans who made up most of the crowd of just over 40.

Sumas have signed Kylo Atkinson, a striker whose previous clubs include Finchampstead, Sandhurst and Farnham, and he was added to their squad for the Hellenic League Floodlit Cup tie away to Didcot Town Development last night (Tuesday).

But another forward, young Connor Holland, has joined Combined Counties Premier League side Frimley Green on dual-registration forms.

Bateman commented: "Connor leaving us is a blow as he was an important part of our squad, but he has been given the opportunity to play at the next level up and you can't blame him for wanting to do that.

"He is dual registered and is always welcome to come back.

"We have brought in Kylo as a replacement. He is a proven goalscorer at this level and he will give us that added competition for the forward places."

Despite having played only six league games, Sumas have no fixture this coming Saturday although Bateman said they would be contacting the Hellenic League to see if one could be arranged at short notice.