They were reduced to ten men early on in the first half, but inspired by a Meshach Wade hat-trick, a classy Somerset Trojans were still far too hot to handle for the Hornets at St. John?s Road yesterday in the top clash of the FA Cup second round.

Trojans? combative midfielder Jelani Butterfield was sent for a very early shower by referee Lyndon Raynor after swearing at the official straight after having a free kick awarded against him for a foul.

But despite this early setback, the boys from the West End remained determined to avenge their 5-0 Cup mauling at the hands of Town in 2004 ? moving the ball around fluidly despite the bumpy field and exploiting the acres of space afforded them because of Town?s poor defensive organisation.

Trojans took the lead in only the third minute through Quincy Aberdeen, who shot low past Town ?keeper Jason Smith from just inside the area.

That lead was doubled in the 35th minute when a Trojans header rebounded off the right-hand upright and into the six-yard box ? with the ball ricocheting off Wade in the resultant scramble.

And while Town did their level best to establish some sort of foothold in the game ? with strikers Heys Wolfe and Carlos Smith working their socks off up front for little reward ? any chance the home side had was obliterated when Anton Lowe brought down Aberdeen in the penalty area for an obvious penalty.

A confident Wade converted the spot kick with aplomb soon after to send Trojans into the break 3-0 up, with victory all but assured.

To their credit, Town kept their heads up in the second half despite the deficit, and looked far more dangerous a side after bringing on the tall Lashun Dill after 53 minutes to give them some much-needed width and penetration down the right flank.

Yet with time running out, energetic Trojans forward Dion Stovell was put through on goal from a long ball over the top of Town?s defence but was pole-axed just outside the area by ?keeper Smith who was rushing out to block the shot ? a foul which gave referee Raynor little choice but to send him off.

Tired, dispirited and down to ten men, Town then had salt rubbed into their wounds by a swaggering Wade, who completed his hat-trick with an absolute bullet of a free kick from 25-yards which prompted whistles of astonishment from the hundreds of spectators on the sidelines.

While the Trojans bandwagon keeps rolling on, for Town the defeat represented another disappointing result in what has so far been a wretched season.

Destroyed 5-0 by Devonshire Cougars in the semi-finals of the Martonmere Cup a few weeks ago, Devarr Boyles? men find themselves low on confidence and languishing second from bottom of the Premier Division with only one win from four games.

And while their early elimination from the FA Cup should give them the leeway to focus fully on league survival, for a team which has become accustomed to silverware and success, that will be scant consolation.

@EDITRULE:

J.Smith, A.Lowe (S.Smith 53), K.Mundy, K.Simmon (L.Dill 53), D.Lawler, M.Parson, S.Tuzo, J.Peniston, H.Wolfe, A.Russell, C.SmithA.Burrows, S.Riley, A.Lambert, S.Simmons, M.Butterfield, M.Wade, Q.Aberdeen, J.Butterfield, D.Swan (C.Robinson 59), D.Stovell, M.Thomas (A.Williams 56)J.Smith (Town) J.Butterfield (Trojans) L.Dill (Town), M.Wade (Trojans)Lyndon Raynor