He scored the 64th hat-trick or better by a Posh player in the club’s 64-year Football League history. Sixties legend Terry Bly and the club’s all-time leading goalscorer Jim Hall managed it seven times apiece, way clear of the next prolific hat-trick scorer Peter Price (3). Remarkably Bly claimed all seven of his hat-tricks in the 1960-61 Fourth Division title-winning campaign when he finished with a club record 52 goals for a team who scored an EFL record 134 goals in 46 matches.
Giuliano Grazioli is the only Posh player to have scored five goals in a game (v Barnet, 1998, in a club record 9-1 win) but Bly (twice), Hall (twice), Price, and Wayne Andrews have managed four goals in a game. Andrews scored his goals on his debut (v Barnet, 1999 in a 5-2 win),
The Posh hat-trick scorers in EFL matches in the current Millennium are...
9. DWIGHT GAYLE
v Blackburn, away, 2/3/13, 3-2. A perfect hat-trick of left foot, right foot, header in a Championship fixture. Photo: Alan Storer
10. EMILE SINCLAIR
v Hull City, away, 29/9/12, 3-1. Posh had lost all seven of their Championship fixtures before this game. Photo: Pixel8 Photos/Joe Dent
11. LEE TOMLIN
v Ipswich Town, home, 20/8/11, 7-1. An incredible scoreline after falling 1-0 down in front of live TV cameras. Ipswich had nine men for a lot of the second-half. Photo: PT
12. CRAIG MACKAIL-SMITH
v Bristol Rovers, home, 6/9/8, 5-4. A spectacular game shown live on Sky Sports. Photo: PT