Thatcham Town centre forward Kyle Tooze has joined a short list of FA Cup goalscorers following the completion of Extra Preliminary Round ties at the weekend.
Tooze scored a most unusual hat trick in The Kingfisher’s defeat of Christchurch in the FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round on Saturday – all three goals were from the penalty spot in a 3-1 win (guess how the Christchurch goal was scored*)
Thanks to the ever-brilliant FA Cup Factfile, we know that Tooze is one of 12 players to score a hat-trick in the opening round of the 2024/25 FA Cup, and he is alongside some impressive names including former Premier League striker Brett Pitman (Baffins Milton Rovers) and ex-Middlesbrough and England under 19 striker Bradley Fewster (two EFL League Cup appearances).
The only player to score more than three was Oscar Massey of Cornwall-based Falmouth Town. The Truro-born former Pymouth Argyle youth player scored four in his sides 5-0 win over Torpoint Athletic.
Sadly, when we checked one little bit of trivia – Massey’s loan spell in 2022 with Hungerford Town didn’t coincide with Tooze’s time at the then Vanarama National League South side.
Update: According to The Guardian, Cameron Brannagan holds the record for the most penalties scored in a game with four for Oxford United in 2022. Full article here.
A full list of all the weekend’s FA Cup results, plus scores from the Combined Counties League Division One opening day are here.
* In case you didn’t want to click the link, it was a penalty.
