Thompson hat-trick as Magpies soar

Garry Thompson scored a hat-trick for Notts County as his side extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to nine games with a thrilling 5-3 victory over Crawley.Thompson produced a wonderful finish after latching on to a pass by Stephen McLaughlin to open the scoring in the ninth minute before Zeli Ismail doubled the hosts' lead by heading into the bottom corner shortly afterwards.Thompson then took full advantage of poor Crawley defending by stealing in at the near post to grab his second of the game eight minutes before half-time.Crawley pulled a goal back just after the restart with a wonderful 20-yard effort from Gwion Edwards and Matt Harrold made it 3-2 following a rapid counter-attack in the 55th minute.But Thompson secured his hat-trick with a fine header from McLaughlin's corner in the 63rd minute before Gary Jones sealed County's victory with a deflected 80th-minute effort.Marvin Elliott still had time to find a third goal for Crawley with a simple header late on, but the Magpies saw out the win.