DANILSON Vicente scored a hat trick as Harpenden Town suffered a disappointing home defeat at the hands of eighth-placed Amersham. It was a keenly-fought contest but the visitors had the game sewn up in the first half an hour, racing into a 3-0 lead. Vice

DANILSON Vicente scored a hat trick as Harpenden Town suffered a disappointing home defeat at the hands of eighth-placed Amersham.

It was a keenly-fought contest but the visitors had the game sewn up in the first half an hour, racing into a 3-0 lead.

Vicente opened the scoring after 18 minutes as he was left unmarked to head the ball through Alastair Collins' legs. Amersham doubled their lead six minutes later when Harpenden failed to clear a free-kick and Toby Francis was on hand to force the ball home.

Vicente added his second with 30 minutes gone, latching onto a long ball and rounding the goalkeeper before firing into the empty net from an acute angle.

Town pulled a goal back seven minutes after the break when the visitors failed to deal with a corner and Chris Gregory was given time and space to fire past Gary White in the Amersham goal. Harpenden pushed on, sensing a way back into the match but the Amersham defence stood firm and their victory was sealed with six minutes left.

Vicente was expertly set free by Francis and he calmly guided the ball into the net to complete his hat trick and put the result beyond doubt.

The result means Harpenden end the year in 14th place but with a couple of games in hand on a lot of their rivals.