An amateur footballer is celebrating scoring the greatest hat-trick in the history of the sport – in just 96 seconds.
Super-striker Karim Rendall, 26, took just one-and-a-half minutes to net a ‘perfect’ hat-trick – scoring first with his right foot, second with a header, then again with his left foot – all in the last seconds of injury time.
Karim’s hat-trick is the third fastest in world football – just six seconds slower than first-place Tommy Ross – who hit three in 90 seconds for Scottish team Ross County in 1964.
But removal man Karim’s three strikes tally is the fastest ever hat-trick in the history of English football.
And because his was a perfect hat-trick – scoring with both feet and a header – Karim can claim to have scored the greatest three-goal haul ever.
Incredibly, Karim scored all three in injury time when his side was down 3-1 – taking the score to 3-4 – nabbing all three points.
Karim – whose nickname is ‘Rapid’ – scored his hat-trick for amateur side Roman Glass St George against rivals Wellington in the Toolstation Western League First Division.
He said: “We were 3-1 down when I scored my first and I was pleased as the consolation goal made the scoreline a bit more respectable.
“But then we got the ball back off them straight from the restart and I managed to get on to the end of a ball from teammate Jamie Johnson and scored with my head.
“I was really pleased as we had come from behind to get a point.
“I asked the referee how long was left and he said ‘one minute’ and I got the ball back and managed to find the corner of the net with the finish.
“I thought the match was over but somehow I scored a hat-trick. I couldn’t believe it, everyone was going mad – it was incredible.
“I heard that someone had scored three times in 90 seconds once so mine must be the world’s fastest perfect hat-trick.”
Karim’s man-of-the-match performance for his Bristol-based Roman Glass side took place on Saturday clash against Somerset side Wellington.
The performance rooted hapless Wellington to the bottom of the league while firing Karim into the football record boots.
The lightning treble came within a 96 second burst according to referee Martin Underhay, with the official telling the winning side what happened was “something special”.
Karim, a removal man for Bristol-based C.J. Ashman & Sons, had started the match on the left wing.
But boss Roger Hudd moved him up front for the last 15 minutes when the soon-to-be-hero suffered a knock to his achilles.
And not only did Karim shrug off the injury to score three times, but he bagged a ‘perfect hat-trick’ by netting left and right foot goals and a header.
He said: “I’ve played for a lot of clubs and must have scored ten hat-tricks in my time but nothing will ever rival that.
“The Wellington players were distraught. I spoke to a couple of them after the match and they couldn’t believe what had just happened.
“I didn’t keep the match ball but I wish I had.”
Roger Hudd, co-manager and chairman of Roman Glass, added: “I have never experienced anything like it in my life, no one present at the game had.
“It’s such a phenomenal and unique achievement at this level of football and I’d imagine at any competitive level of the game.
“The referee got in touch with us later to say, ‘you realise this is something special’.”
Karim’s amazing treble, which took his tally for the season to nine in 14 games, is believed to be the quickest by anyone in England.
The fastest hat-trick ever was bagged by Tommy Ross who scored three times in the space of 90 seconds while playing in a Highland League match for Ross County against Nairn County on November 28, 1964.
In English Football League history, the fastest hat-trick is credited to Bournemouth’s James Hayter, who struck three times within two minutes and 20 seconds.
Hayter came on as an 84th-minute substitute in his side’s 6-0 thumping of Wrexham in 2004.
That feat was missed by his parents, who had left the game early to board the last ferry back to the Isle of Wight.
And Robbie Fowler has the record for the quickest hat-trick in the Premier League when he scored three times in four minutes and 32 seconds for Liverpool against Arsenal on Sunday 28 August 1994.
MFL – STATEMENT FROM FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION
* Quickest ever official hat tricks
1) Tommy Ross (Ross County v Nairn County, November 28, 1964) 90 seconds
2) Magnus Arvidsson (Hassleholm against Landskrona, Sweden, in 1995) 1 min 35secs.
3) Eduardo Maglioni (Independiente v Gimmasia de la Plata, March 18, 1973) 1 min 50 secs
4) Jimmy O’Connor (Shelbourne v Bohemians, November 19, 1967) 2 mins 13 secs
5) James Hayter (Bournemouth v Wrexham, February 24, 2004) 2 mins 20 seconds
6) Ian St John (Motherwell v Hibernian, August 15, 1959) 2 mins 30 seconds
7) Willie Hall (England v Northern Ireland, November 26, 1938) 3mins
8) Graham Leggat (Fulham v Ipswich, December 26, 1963) 3 mins 30 seconds
9) Nigel Clough (Nottingham Forest v QPR, December 13, 1987) 4 mins
10) Robbie Fowler (Liverpool v Arsenal, August 28, 1994) 4mins 33 seconds
