Jack Barham defended his hat-trick celebration against former club Dartford following Maidstone’s big derby win.

Barham cupped his ears and headed for the away fans after putting the Stones 3-0 up at the Gallagher Stadium on Saturday.

Michael Phillips, the scorer of United’s fourth, did likewise after his goal, further riling travelling fans.

Barham revealed it was simply a case of giving Dartford a taste of their own medicine after the 3-0 FA Cup defeat inflicted on the Stones in October.

That afternoon, Ade Azeez ran virtually the length of the pitch to celebrate in front of Maidstone supporters after netting the visitors’ clinching third goal.

Stones players weren’t going to forget that in a hurry and wanted to make their point.

“I always say in football, what goes around comes around,” said Barham.

“That FA Cup game, you saw it on the pitch with the striker that scored, he ran all the way to our fans and celebrated.

“That’s why I always say what goes around comes around, and it’s happened.

“That’s literally it, and there’s nothing better than getting a hat-trick in a derby game.

“These games are a blur but I’m just over the moon to get three points and three goals.

“We needed that win to put us a little bit closer to Dartford and we’re really looking forward to going into the Christmas period and hopefully picking up as many points as we can.

“We’ve put our stamp on it.

“The FA Cup game was just a blip.

“We weren’t on it on the day, we weren’t quite with it, and you can tell what it means to the fans today.

“With a local derby it just gives you a little more of an edge.

“You put that extra five or 10 yards in all over the pitch and I think if someone had said it could have been six or seven-nil, no one would have argued.

“The amount of chances we had, and missed, when you look at it, it should have been five, six or seven.

“It’s about cementing our place in the league and pushing as a squad to hopefully win the league.

“It would be good to get in the play-offs but we want to go for that top spot and we’ve got the squad to do it.

“If I can chip in with as many goals as I can and help the team, that’s what I’ll do.”

Barham hopes the hat-trick - his first Maidstone goals - will catapult him from bit-part player to lead role when Hakan Hayrettin considers his attacking options.

The Stones manager tends to go with a lone striker, and that’s normally been Christie Pattisson this season, with Alfie Pavey out of favour and both Barham and Reece Grant sidelined by knee injuries.

But Barham’s trio of close-range finishes showed the goalscoring instinct United need and he’s determined to nail down a regular starting place.

• Barham's always been wanted

“I’m just starting to get going and get my fitness,” he said.

“It’s been hard for me because we’ve got a good squad, so I’ve had to try and cement myself in the striker position.

“A lot of goals have come from Luque, which has helped massively, but we’ve dominated a lot of games, especially first half, and haven’t been able to put the icing on the cake in terms of finishing, so it’s about time it came off.

“It’s a hard knack because everyone thinks it’s easy to stand in the box and be the poacher and be in the right place at the right time but it’s like an art.

"You’ve just got to be in there sniffing every chance you can get and luckily today I’ve been in the right position three times and managed to capitalise.

“I think my first start at Dulwich I got to 60 minutes and completely cramped up.

“I’ve had to bide my time, we’ve got a lot of quality going forward so for me it’s just about putting my stamp on it now and being that poacher we’ve missed out on.

“I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve knocked on the gaffer’s door saying I need to play more minutes.

“I’ve had loads of chats, especially after friendlies, have I been good enough?

“He’s put his arm around me and said your time’s going to come and after today, the fans realise that I can be that poacher going forward and I really want step up my goals now.”