ANOTHER Alex Read hat-trick saw Brentwood to a comfortable win over bottom-of-the-table Ware at the Brentwood Arena on Saturday.
For the third time in four Saturdays, the striker hit the net three times to bring his total to 19 in all competitions this season.
After their cup runs, Brentwood face a backlog of league fixtures with several games in hand on almost every other side in the division.
However, the result Saturday moved Blues up just one place in the Ryman North table to 18th and they will have to wait a little longer before they can catch up on their league games as they have more cup games for the next two Tuesdays – they visit Thurrock on the 20th November in the Isthmian League Cup and are at home to Colchester United in the Essex Senior Cup on the 27th.
The Blues found it easy to breach the Ware defence in the early stages of Saturday's game and created many clear chances.
In the sixth minute Daryl Robson put Read through but on this occasion he could not finish and Ware goalkeeper Rhys Madden blocked his effort.
Almost immediately, Abs Seymour set up Read for another clear chance but again he could not beat Madden.
And he was soon in action again. Read got his head to a Greg Cohen cross and the keeper saved from Abs Thompson. Then Blues' own keeper, Elliot Justham, started a breakaway with an accurate kick to Read who found support from Sam Bantick who forced a double save from Madden.
Madden then kept out a header from Read, but following the resulting corner, Blues took the lead with a 20th minute penalty converted by Read after Ricci Crace was penalised for handball.
After a torrid opening, Ware got back in the game and it was an even contest for most of the rest of the first half.
In the opening minutes of the second half, Read broke away and saw his shot hit a post. He then had the ball in the net but the goal was disallowed for offside.
Ware were still in the game until Read was put through by Steve Butterworth to make it 2-0 in the 72nd minute. Brentwood then dominated and Read scored his third seven minutes later with Thompson completing the scoring in the 87th minute.
