JEMEL Johnson grabbed a second-half hat-trick as Binfield came from two goals down to beat Oxford City Nomads 4-2 at Hill Farm Lane on Monday night, writes Dave Wright.

The striker answered manager Roger Herridge’s call for extra firepower after the Moles had squandered several chances when losing 2-1 at home to Lydney on Saturday.

Herridge revealed: “I spoke to them (his players) before the game about the need to take some of the pressure off Ferdy (Liam Ferdinand) a little bit and Josh Howell, as they have been the only players scoring regularly for us.

“I said we need to find some goals from other areas, so JJ has obviously taken that on board as he has weighed in with a hat-trick.”

But there is still no end to Ferdinand’s remarkable scoring run as his 39th-minute goal brought Binfield back into the game after they had fallen behind to strikes from Kaylem Patterson in the second minute and Mikey McKirnan’s 26th-minute free-kick.

It was Ferdinand’s 12fth goal in the last nine games and he has now hit the 20 mark for the season in all competitions.

Johnson made it 2-2 on 50 minutes with a shot that went in off the post and he then put Moles ahead just after the hour mark following good work by Ferdinand down the left flank.

His hat-trick goal came in the 70th minute to put the result beyond doubt. It was the second time in three games that Binfield have turned a 2-0 deficit into victory.

“It is good we have the ability to score goals, as we concede them for fun these days,” said Herridge.

“We perhaps have players who are lacking in experience and a little bit of know-how, but they more than make up for it in desire. I can’t knock them and we deserved to win the game.

“But we certainly need to start keeping some clean sheets - that is for sure. This is something we need to work on.”

Binfield, who have not kept a clean sheet since last November, looked to be on their way to victory against Lydney on Saturday when they led through Ferdinand’s 32nd-minute goal.

But they were left reeling as the visitors equalised on 65 minutes and notched the winner in stoppage time.

The Moles, who moved up to eighth place in the table after Monday’s win, visit another mid-table side, Royal Wootton Bassett, on Saturday (3pm) before entertaining title-chasing Flackwell Heath on Monday evening (7.45pm).

“We need to win on Saturday and anything we get against Flackwell will be a bonus,” added Herridge, who side lost 2-0 at Flackwell in the semi-finals of the Berks & Bucks Senior Trophy last week.