A JAMIE Semple hat trick secured a valuable three points for Gala Fairydean Rovers against his former side Broomhill at The Rock in Dumbarton on Saturday.

Gala went into the game on the back of heavy league defeats to East Kilbride and Linlithgow Rose and a Cup exit at the hands of Tynecastle whilst Broomhill had gone six games without conceding a goal,

Manager Martin Scott kept faith with his philosophy and that paid dividends when Semple put them ahead with a tremendous volley from Liam Watt’s cross in the seventh minute.

However with Gala in control, Kirk McKnight equalised for the hosts against the run of play just before the break.

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But with 20-minutes remaining Semple scored his second of the day with a delicate dink over the keeper and seven minutes later he got on the end of a Danny Galbraith pass to secure his hat trick.

Max Wright pulled one back for Broomhill with three minutes remaining but the Gala defence withstood a late charge from the home side and took all three points.

Hat trick hero Semple said:” “I played for Broomhill last year when it was Open Goal Broomhill under Si Ferry but they had a whole rebuild in the summer so it was different players.

 “We started well and went a goal ahead early in the game but gifted them an equaliser with a daft mistake just before half time.

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“But in the second-half I thought that we always looked the more likely to win the game.

“I scored two more and we were comfortable but they pulled one back then threw everything at us

“I’ve been choking to score in the league then three goals come along in the one game so everyone was buzzing for me.

“And we needed the win because we’ve been on a tough run with a lot of hard fixtures against the top teams, although the Lowland League is getting better each year and there are no easy games now.

“So hopefully Saturday is a turning point for us and we can now build some momentum.”

Semple joined the club in the summer and despite the commute from Hamilton he is loving life in the Borders.

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He continued: “My younger brother Kyle signed for the club before me but when he was at Netherdale I spoke to Jimmy (Martin Scott) and decided to join as well.

“Having played against Gala Fairydean Rovers before, I could see how Jimmy wanted his team to play and that suits me. I like to get the ball down and play football. And the playing surface at Netherdale is brilliant.

“This is a great club to be at. The boys are brilliant, even when results haven’t gone our way.

“Next up we have Stirling University at home and they are like a full time team because they train every day.”