Jack Duffy scores a hat-trick as Stamford AFC beat Royston Town in the Southern League Premier Division Central
A hat-trick from Jack Duffy helped Stamford return to winning ways in a pivotal clash at the Zeeco Stadium on Saturday.
Duffy's treble steered Stamford to a 3-1 home success over Royston Town in the Southern League Premier Division Central match.
The victory leaves Stamford one place outside the play-off spots by virtue of goal difference after ending a three-game run without a win in a vital victory for Graham Drury's side.
The Stamford boss said: "I said to the boys that the game was a real turning point of the season in that it will go either one of two ways for us.
"We will either drop down the table or move back up with a game in hand as well and I felt it was a real pivotal point in our season.
"We'd had a couple of defeats recently and the game last weekend was postponed so we were on a little bit of a catch-up.
"If it had gone horribly wrong against an in-form side like Royston, we could have been looking down at being a mid-table side.
"The lads have done what I asked of them though. They were very disciplined."
Stamford were missing the suspended duo of Joe Burgess and George Hobbins following their last outing at Redditch a fortnight ago which ended in a 2-1 defeat while Harry Vince and James Blunden were still sidelined through injury.
Connor Bartle, Billy Bennett and Tendai Chitiza all came into the starting line-up while young Peterborough United defender Jenson Sumnall was on the substitutes' bench after joining on loan from the League One side.
Stamford dominated the opening exchanges with Lee Shaw twice going close before Duffy had an effort disallowed for a foul on Royston goalkeeper Tommy Dixon-Hodge.
The Crows custodian then made a smart stop to thwart Duffy who had another effort turned away with Chitiza unable to convert the rebound.
Stamford were then forced to replace frontman Richard Gregory but shrugged off the setback to take a 30th minute lead.
Duffy latched onto a through ball before holding off the challenge of Harvey Beckett and slotting his finish past Dixon-Hodge.
However, the lead lasted just eight minutes before Royston equalised as Oluwakoyejo Dawodu played a fine through ball to find Damaray Anyadike who brought the visitors level.
Both sides had further chances to take the lead before the break with Stamford goalkeeper Tom Jackson keeping out a dipping effort from Dawodu while Dixon-Hodge turned away a home free-kick from Bartle.
Duffy came close to putting Stamford back in front early in the second half with a shot that went just wide after good work from Shaw.
Royston were then reduced to 10 men just past the hour mark when Adam Murray was sent off after collecting his second caution of the game.
And just seven minutes later Stamford were back in front as Shaw threaded a delightful pass to Duffy who converted at the back post.
Anyadike tried a couple of efforts from distance in a bid to get Royston back into the game but, as the Crows pushed further forward in search of a leveller, Stamford struck a third goal deep in injury-time.
Duffy capped a fine personal performance as he surged clear before completing his hat-trick with an astute finish after a display that earned plenty of praise from boss Drury.
He added: "There aren't many players better when Jack Duffy is at it like that. He was outstanding.
"It is now very important that we find some consistency in our game because we've had a lot of injuries recently.
"There are no excuses because we've got a good squad but, when you've got four players out like we had on Saturday, then our bench does weaken because we can't have an 18-strong squad of players.
"We haven't got that like-for-like replacement but it's where we are as a club and we're still competing with sides that have so all credit to my dressing room because we're going up against some big clubs.
"They're showing that we're in the mix of it and we want to stay there."
Stamford face a tough trip to second-placed Halesowen Town on Saturday.