BROOKLYN, NY– Ebbsfleet United striker Dominic Poleon, eligible to represent St Lucia internationally, says more is to come from his English National League South (NLS) team after his first-half hat-trick helped brush aside Kent rivals Tonbridge Angels 5-1 at Stonebridge Road.
London-born Poleon, 27, joined the club in February, but the NLS was halted that month because of the coronavirus pandemic, although Ebbsfleet continued to play practice matches behind closed doors.
“It was a great game [on Saturday],” he said. “I’m a little bit disappointed we didn’t get the clean sheet after all the work we put in this pre-season; we’ve put countless hours on the training ground.
“I’m fully concentrated on making this season a good one; I think we’ve got the foundations and the players.
“Everything is set up for us to have a good season. It’s exciting times and a great start, but this is gone now; we move onto the next one.
“After [Saturday], it’s gone. Good, bad, or indifferent, we move onto the next game. We have to have that mindset that we can’t rest on the good things.
“We’ve got to strive to be better and do better. It was good to have the fans back, but onto the next game.
“You can always improve and work on your game and team stuff. But when you win 5-1, you can’t really grumble, can you?”
The hat-trick will have boosted Poleon’s confidence, but the former Leeds, Oldham Athletic, AFC Wimbledon, Crawley Town, and Newport County striker is putting the team first.
“It’s good to score a hat-trick, and it breeds confidence, but it’s a team thing, and those goals mean nothing if we don’t get the win,” he said.
Like most Caribbean Football Union nations, St Lucia has been in pursuit of UK-born players with international eligibility to boost their squad.
The UK-born pair of midfielder Kieran Monlouis and goalkeeper Lamar Johnson currently represent the national team.