St Albans City gave the perfect riposte to their first home defeat of the season by hammering high-flying National League South new boys Poole Town 4-0 at Clarence Park on Tuesday with Louie Theophanous bagging his first hat-trick for the Saints.

Theophanous was in sublime touch in front of goal as he revelled in the role of captain in the absence of Lee Chappell.

To say that Theophanous was the main difference between the two sides would be to state the obvious but he really did expose the weakness in Tom Killick’s side, and that was in front of goal.

The Dolphins enjoyed a large slice of the play but around the penalty area they were pitiful while Theophanous was deadly, as he took his recent rush of goals to seven in just four games.

With Chappell side-lined due to a long standing commitment, and Dipo Akinyemi reduced to a seat on the bench, manager Ian Allinson brought in midfielders Matt Ball and David Noble, the latter for his first start.

Poole settled the better of the two teams and frequently set to open up their hosts with long balls out to the right to Luke Burbidge.

The long-serving Burbidge looked set to give Tom Bender a difficult night when turning him inside out in the opening minutes only to see his shot from a tight angle ricochet away off the legs of the diving James Russell.

But what promised to be a good evening for the Dolphins quickly turned sour and never again was Russell called upon to make a save.

Poole continued to make the early running only for City to launch a lethal counter-attack on three minutes that saw Junior Morias win the first corner of the night.

Ball curled a right-footed in-swinger in from the City left that Josh Hill, without needing to jump, got between two defenders to head to the right of ‘keeper Nick Hutchings for his first goal for the Saints.

The half continued in much the same vein with Poole seeing plenty of the ball but having no success in breaking down a City backline that had a torrid time in trying to contain the Hampton attack just three days earlier.

A dangerous low cross by Ryan Case went just too far ahead of Abdulai Baggie before Bender put the ball out for a corner.

From the set-piece, sent over by Steve Devlin, the ball was headed into the goalmouth by Michael Walker where Baggie scooped it over the top from close range.

City attacks may have been less frequent that those of the Dolphins but the threat they posed far outweighed those of the visitors.

Theophanous, collecting an excellent crossfield pass by Ball, was only denied a second goal by the legs of Hutchings who also did well to keep out the striker’s follow up.

Poole applied their most sustained spell of pressure around the 20 minute mark but as crosses were whipped into the home penalty area from either flank City stood firm and repelled each one, without Russell being called upon to intervene.

Morias may be struggling for goals in recent games but his influence remains high and the Jamaican-born striker played a leading part in the second City goal on 35 minutes.

Ball intercepted a throw on the Poole right and helped the ball onto Theophanous whose first touch found Morias midway inside the Town half.

After holding off the towering Walker, Morias feigned to shoot before laying off an exquisite pass into the path of Theophanous who duly slotted a first time right-footed shot under Hutchings.

Four minutes later Morias and Ball worked possession across the edge of the Poole penalty area to Shaun Lucien who cut inside from the right flank and clipped the top of the crossbar with a shot that deflected off Devlin.

Ben Martin headed narrowly wide from the resulting corner sent in by Ball.

More excellent work by Morias so nearly created a third goal just prior to the interval.

Seemingly penned in by the goal-line Morias skipped inside Devlin and cut a low cross to Ben Herd whose back-heel was met by a second back-heel by Theophanous that Hutchings somehow smothered on the goal-line as Ball tried to force it home.

Just 14 seconds into the second and Hutchings was forced into making another save, this time from Morias, as City went for quick kill.

Six minutes later Lucien flashed a blistering drive from an acute angle that went inside Hutchings at his near post but, remarkably, flew out of play on the opposite wing rather than going into the goal.

The match moved completely out of Poole’s reach on 78 minutes when City added a third goal that looked simple but oozed class.

Dolphins defender Will Spetch got into a tangle on the ball and lost possession to Lucien on the City right.

With a beautifully measured low through ball Lucien split the Poole defence and Hutchings was unsure about how far to advance. The keeper was left stranded as Theophanous ran through and elegantly clipped the ball into the Hatfield Road net from around nine yards out.

In the time that remained Poole heads appeared to drop and City could have gone on to win by a far more substantial margin.

Poole, however, could have reduced the arrears a minute later but unmarked substitute Lee Wort blazed harmlessly wide.

Akinyemi, on for Ball, quickly made his presence felt with a good run in from the right and driven low cross towards the near post that Hutchings deflected upwards and Jamie Whisken scooped away as far as Herd whose volley dipped over the crossbar.

City wrapped up their first win in three meetings with Poole in the fifth minute of added time with Theophanous taking his seasons tally to eight in nine games and his career total to 30 in 61 games for the Saints.

From a Poole corner Martin headed away his umpteenth clearance of the night. Sam Merson picked the ball up on the right and played it down the right to Akinyemi who brushed Oliver Davis aside as he galloped down the touchline.

Akinyemi’s pass inside deflected to Herd whose clever ball to Theophanous sent referee Josh Smith tumbling to the ground before reaching its intended target.

The City captain played the ball inside to Merson who sent a perfect first time return pass to Theophanous who completed his hat-trick with smartly placed shot inside Hutchings near, right-hand, upright.

Theophanous may gab the headlines with his three-goal blast but the sponsors Man of the Match award went to Bender, while much of the credit for the clean sheet and foundation for the win must go to Martin and Hill who forged an impregnable partnership at the heart of the City defence.

City’s biggest win of the season to date returns the club to third in the table. That high placing will come under intense scrutiny on Saturday when Ian Allinson takes to Saints to Maidenhead United to face Alan Devonshire’s table-topping Magpies.

Kick off at York Road is at 3pm.

Lee Chappell is set to return to the squad but Ryan Johnson’s return may be delayed through injury.

St Albans City: J.Russell, B.Herd, T.Bender, M.Ball (D.Akinyemi 79), B.Martin, J.Hill, S.Lucien, Sc.Thomas, L.Theophanous, J.Morias (S.Merson 80), D.Noble (G.Casey 60), subs not used: A.Iwediuno, R.Hoenes.

Booked: Thomas, Ball, Hill.

Poole Town: N.Hutchings, L.Lindsey, W.Spetch, M.Walker, J.Whisken, J.Granger (L.Wort 63), L.Burbidge, S.Devlin, L.Roberts, A.Baggie (O.Davis 83), R.Case (S.Surridge 49), sub not used: T.Rees.

Goals: 3 1-0 Hill, 35 2-0 Theophanous, 78 3-0 Theophanous, 90 4-0 Theophanous.

Referee: Josh Smith (Bourne).

Att: 485.