Australia's fastest hat-trick
Monday, 27 May 2013 11:10 AM


It is official; the record for Australia’s fastest hat-trick now lies with the Victory League in Tasmania.

Victory League superstar Kostas Kanakaris netted three goals in 2 minutes 51 seconds in South Hobart’s Round 7 victory over Launceston City and the feat sent officials scrambling to check record books around the country.

Melbourne Victory is proud to back the Tasmanian league, providing Tasmania’s aspiring young footballers a very real pathway into professional sport.

Football Federation Australia Statistician Andrew Howe said the South Hobart spearhead’s hat-trick is a new national record for semi-professional football in the country, and eclipses the national league hat-trick record of six minutes, set by Jason Bennett of the Newcastle Breakers in a 6-1 win over West Adelaide in 1996.

“We've been scouring the records, and can't find any evidence of a faster hat-trick in Australian national or state league history,” said Howe.

"While national league luminaries such as Damian Mori, Shane Smeltz and Con Boutsianis have each scored hat-tricks in under ten minutes, it looks like no-one has ever done it in less than three minutes before.

"Kanakaris' name is certainly up alongside some Australian goal scoring legends now".

Kanakaris returned from Greece to play in the Victory League this season and has been a focal point for South Hobart in what has been a great start to its season.

Kanakaris’ record is yet another milestone in a hugely successful inaugural Victory League season.

Football Federation Tasmania (FFT) has honoured the achievement with a plaque detailing Kanakaris’ feat.

“It is a fantastic achievement for Kostas and an indication that the Victory League is an exciting, record breaking competition with national relevance,” FFT CEO John Boulous said.

Yeah my cursor hovered over AF, as it's an Aussie record, but I figured it'd be deleted there.