Half-time substitute Luke Burdon scored an 11-minute hat-trick before being taken off as Lydd boosted their survival hopes.

Burdon struck on 47, 49 and 58 minutes as the Lydders built on Tyler Sterling’s early opener to lead Bearsted 4-0 on Saturday.

But when defender Nico Cotton was sent off midway through the second half, manager Ryan Smith needed to change things around.

That meant an early finish for Burdon, whose work was done.

“Luke deserves credit for coming in from the cold and his hat-trick was unbelievable,” said Smith, who has seen striker Jerson Dos Santos join Isthmian South East Phoenix.

“His second goal, I think he’s headbutted the post where he’s charged at it that much.

“He got his hat-trick in 11 minutes and then we had Nico Cotton sent off and needed a left-back, so I took Burdon off.”

The match finished 4-0 with victory moving Lydd out of the Southern Counties East Premier Division relegation zone for the first time in months.

They dropped back in after Snodland beat Holmesdale on Tuesday night but have genuine hope of beating the drop after a fine run of form, having looked doomed a matter of weeks ago.

“It’s some effort to get out of the bottom two and I’m unbelievably proud,” said Smith, who found himself back in charge over the New Year period after Nicky Southall’s ill-fated 39-day reign.

“But it shows my mistakes in appointing some people and some of the players I brought in were mistakes.

“The team now is playing a million times better, they’re working a million times harder and defending a million times better.”

Lydd, who visit fellow battlers Stansfeld in a key game this Saturday (3pm), have lost Robbie Dolan for the season to a dislocated shoulder.

But with James Rogers impressing in defence, Smith is confident his backline will stand up and be counted without Dolan.

“I’ve got to give a shout-out to Rodgo,” said Smith. “He’s been unbelievable at centre-half.

“I praised Robbie and Charlie Dickens for their commitment but Rodgo is probably the most dedicated footballer in non-league.

“He’s an absolute nightmare, he demands strict standards, but he’s a hell of a player and we’re lucky to have him.

“The form we’re in now would keep us up but Saturday is one hell of a big game - the biggest since we won the play-off final.”