Weston AFC secure National League South promotion after Jackson treble

Jackson opened the scoring inside the first minute with a splendid finish before Jason Pope made it two eight minutes later to give the Seagulls a dream start inside the first 10 minutes at The Optima Stadium.

Dave Deidhiou stunned the home supporters into complete silence moments after the break before Jackson broke free down the other end to restore Weston’s two-goal advantage.

Jackson completed his treble in superb fashion with a low shot into the bottom corner to claim the Southern Premier South title.

The victory moves Weston onto 92 points from their 41 games and eight points ahead of second placed Bracknell Town with two games to go.

Scott Bartlett named the same starting 11 that beat Merthyr Town 1-0 on Saturday.

And it was his side who made the perfect start with only 40 seconds on the clock. 

An inch-perfect threaded ball was played into Jackson and the forward made no mistake to place the ball past Aymen Azaze.

Pope doubled Weston’s lead a short time later when the defender was the first to react to steer the ball home and put the Seagulls in dreamland.

Both Pope and Lloyd Humphries saw shots drift wide as Bartlett’s men went into half-time 2-0 ahead and half the job was done.

But the Greens halved the scores moments after the break through Dave Deidhiou’s tap-in to stun the majority of the 1,490 crowd.

However, Jackson restored Weston’s two-goal cushion with a fine shot into the bottom corner seconds later.

And the forward completed his hat-trick in the 71st minute when he latched onto Reuben Reid’s unselfish ball to slot the ball into the bottom corner.

The final whistle was greeted by supporters running onto the pitch celebrating a place back in the National League South for the first time since 2019.

Weston-super-Mare AFC: Purnell, Pope, Jagger-Cane, Humphries, Avery, Watts, (Watts 76), Dodd, (Coppin 82) Jackson, Grubb, Bastin, Reid (Mehew 82)

Attendance: 1,490