PORT Glasgow moved to joint top of the league table with this seven-goal demolition of Newmains at Parklea on Saturday.

And striker Scott Nugent emphasised his return to form this season, bagging four of the goals as the Port ran riot in the second half.

Newmains came to Parklea on the back of a shock victory at Rossvale the previous week, but they fell behind with just 60 seconds on the clock in this match, when Nugent grabbed the first of his goals.

It came as a corner kick was cleared by the visitors, but the ball was soon back in their box, where a Brendan Sharpe header could only be palmed out by keeper Martyn Meek to the feet of Nugent, who blasted home from close range.

Amazingly, the striker could – and probably should – have scored again just a minute later when he was sent clear in the box but ballooned his effort high over the bar.

Paul Coyle then saw a header cleared off the Newmains line, as the Port’s corner kick tally rose to eight.

But Newmains crept into the game and began to see more of the ball, albeit without seriously troubling Bryan Tucker in the Port goal.

And it was the home side who ended the first half in attack, with another Nugent effort from 25 yards touched over the bar by Meek, leaving the Port bemused at going in at the break with just a slender one goal advantage to show for all their pressure.

However, that all changed in the second half.

Sharpe hit the post with a curled shot five minutes after the restart, but just a minute later the Port made it 2-0 when a pinpoint cross from Ross Kearns found Eddie Walton, who powered a header into the net.

A trademark Nugent free-kick from 25 yards out put the Port three ahead on 56 minutes, and it wasn’t long before the striker clinched his hat-trick.

This time a great ball from Brendan Grana found Alan Jamieson out on the left, and he cut inside before slipping the ball to Nugent to give the striker a virtual tap-in.

The lethal front-man wasn’t finished at that, though.

On 69 minutes the hard-working Sharpe beat the offside trap and unselfishly passed to Nugent for his fourth goal of the game.

The Port were running rampant and threatening to score with every attack.

The sixth goal came on 77 minutes, when Newmains’ right-back Graham Stewart made a hash of an attempted clearance, succeeding only in slicing the ball into the path of Sharpe, who acrobatically netted with a volley for a well-deserved goal.

Nugent and Sharpe were then subbed to much applause, but the Port still weren’t finished, with Nugent’s replacement, Graham Black, pouncing at the far post to complete the scoring with three minutes remaining.

It was, naturally, a very pleased assistant manager, Scott Jackson, who gave the Tele his reaction.

He said: “All credit to the boys for an absolutely excellent performance. We should have been much more than just the one goal ahead at the interval, but the boys stuck to their task and got their just reward with a clinical second half display.” Nugent’s four goals took him into double figures for the season, with the striker there or thereabouts towards another significant landmark.

He said: “I keep a tally of my goals, and although I will need to check to confirm, I think that’s me near to the 200 mark in my career.

“I feel I am getting back to my form of a few seasons ago, mainly because a persistent ankle injury I had isn’t bothering me as much now. But to be honest I think I was carrying a wee bit too much weight last season, and I am feeling much fitter now.

“It’s great to be back amongst the goals again, and I just hope to keep up my scoring rate for as long as possible.” PORT GLASGOW: Tucker, Gordon, Coyle, Walton, Docherty, Gault, Kearns, Grana (Paterson 63), Nugent (Black 77), Sharpe (Bowie 77), Jamieson. Subs not used: McCormick, McAfee.

Port Glasgow Juniors are sponsored by Regents Vehicle Sales, Greenock, and MAC HSL Ltd.