On the same weekend that his old club Crystal Palace notched an 11-minute hat-trick in the English Premier League thanks to Yannick Bolasie, Jerahl Hughes pulled off exactly the same feat as Tauranga City United thrashed Waiuku 5-0.

Playing on the right of a front three for the Northern League Division One leaders, the winger was too much to handle for the visitors on Sunday afternoon, turning in a memorable performance to help the Links Avenue outfit to their fourth straight victory.

Jerahl Hughes (left) is congratulated after completing an 11-minute hat-trick against Waiuku. Photos: Cameron Avery.

United were quick out of the blocks, and could have taken the lead in only the second minute when Hughes forced a good save from Justin Baldwin after bright build-up play from Andrew Cooper and Colm Kenny.

But the Mount Maunganui crowd didn't have long to wait for the opener – and it came courtesy of some unselfish play from Irish striker Kenny, who looked odds on to score himself before squaring for Hughes to net a simple tap in.

Just three minutes later it was 2-0 when Cooper made himself some room down the left before testing Baldwin. The stopper did well to get a hand on the initial shot, but was helpless to stop Hughes from knocking in the rebound.

And his hat-trick was complete with just 11 minutes on the clock. The 25-year-old was sent clear down his favoured right-hand side, and though there was still much to do, he calmly cut inside before firing a composed finish into the bottom corner.

The bewildered visitors had no answer to United's dominance, and fell further behind in the 19th minute when Hughes turned provider, sending in a dangerous corner that was turned in by left-back Campbell Higgins at the near post

There was a twist in the tale before the break when Blues midfielder Jordan Culpepper was sent off following a tackle on Luke Chapman. The decision looked a harsh one, with referee Rajesh Kumar slow to produce the red card.

But their numerical advantage failed to spark Waiuku into life, and the scoring was complete with 18 minutes left when Hughes sent the goalkeeper the wrong way from the penalty spot after being fouled inside the box.

United had further chances to add to their tally, with Kenny and Cooper both going close, but the day belonged to Hughes, who was a thorn Waiuku's side from the first minute to the last.

After the game, the man-of-the-match said: 'I enjoy every game, but to score four goals is special. The main thing is that we got three points. We started off quick and got a few early goals, so I really enjoyed it.

'In the first few games we've started off slowly in the first 20-minutes and it's taken us time to settle into our game. But today our main aim was to start well and punish a team that haven't won a game yet.

'Everyone's happy at the moment and we just have to keep going and keep playing well. We've got the players and we're more than capable of winning this league.”

And on his star man, coach Duncan Lowry added: 'It must go down as one of the fastest hat-tricks that I've ever come across, and really he could have had five or six.

'We normally take things a half at a time, but the game was done and dusted after 11 minutes.

'In that situation, when players think the game is over, they can do silly things and don't get the basics right, but I couldn't of wished for a better start to the game and to the season.”