Studley stunned by a first-half Bertie hat-trick

Trea Bertie scored three as Racers went into the interval 4-0 up.

The first of 19 games in 43 days for Racers saw manager Scott Easterlow again shuffling his pack, with Rich Powell and Luke Cole on the bench alongside the returning Elliott Powell.

Bertie opened his account in the 12th minute with a fierce strike into the corner and, five minutes later, Ryan Billington hit a splendid second for the hosts.

Just past the half-hour, Bertie chased down former Racer Dan Dineen before powering the ball past the advancing Studley keeper and he completed his treble two minutes later, firing into the bottom corner after being picked out by Wade Malley.

After the interval a Luke Church header struck the bar before a much-improved Studley scored a consolation.

Church did eventually get his name on the scoresheet with an assured finished from a Luke Cole through ball and Easterlow said his side had learned their lessons from previous encounters against Studley.

“We have already played them twice, once in the league and once in the cup so it helped us massively in knowing how to go about beating them,” he said.

“Trea was unplayable in first half. He’s finding his feet now and the other lads are getting used to how he plays and it shows. Hopefully it will just get better and better.

“But it wasn’t just him, there were good performances all-round.

“We decided to give some lads who’d been out of the side for a while their chance and they took it.

“It’s what we have to do now every week as there are so many games.

“There’s no better way to start a period when we are playing three of the top eight sides in league followed by a semi final.”

Racing Club are back in action tomorrow night when they journey to Leicester Road, followed by a trip to Ilkeston on Saturday.