ABERYSTWYTH Town’s hopes of closing the gap on seventh-placed Newtown were shattered as a hat-trick from Jason Oswell capped a very satisfying 4-0 win for the Robins at Park Avenue.

Captain Luke Sherbon was sent off on 57 minutes to compound the Seasiders’ misery, on what was a disastrous night for the home side.

The Robins had succumbed to a last-minute winner by Kurtis March at Park Avenue on Boxing Day, and only an injury-time leveller from Joe Clarke had denied them a victory over Aber back at Latham Park.

They were not to be denied this time, however, as Oswell’s fine treble, including a 40-yard lob over Chris Mullock for his second goal, took him top of the scorers’ charts.

The Seasiders had an unchanged team from the side that had drawn 2-2 against Rhyl, and Aber almost took the lead inside two minutes.

Luke Borrelli won the ball in midfield to release Geoff Kellaway down the right side, and his low strike drew an excellent save from visiting goalkeeper Jack Perry.

In a frenetic start to the game, Borrelli curled a shot over the bar, but back came Newtown with Oswell knocking the ball over the bar from Craig Williams’ right wing cross.

Unbeaten since their festive defeat at Aber, and after four successive wins, Newtown looked confident.

Nick Rushton broke down the right and crossed for Oswell, who volleyed over, and Oswell then headed Jamie Price’s cross straight at Mullock - before a Neil Mitchell ball from the right just missed the head of the unmarked Boundford.

At the other end Sam Rodon headed past the post from Malcolm Melvin’s corner, but the visitors however were asserting themselves and they made the breakthrough when Oswell finally found the net five minutes before the interval.

Tom Goodwin found Neil Mitchell, who fed Williams on the overlap down the right, and his looping cross was headed home by Oswell.

Dylan Rees sent a long range volley over the bar, but Newtown deserved to be ahead at half time.

After the break, Aber enjoyed a few dangerous free kicks before Mullock denied Williams with a free kick of his own at the other end.

A Melvin free kick then led to an almighty scramble in Newtown’s box, and Borrelli was so unlucky to see his shot cannon off the post.

Sixty seconds later, Luke Boundford’s long throw-in on the right was nodded on by Shane Sutton for Rushton to finish with a low volley.

It got worse two minutes later when the Robers were given a free kick 40 yards out, and to the amazement of the crowd Oswell quickly took the kick and chipped it over former Newtown stopper Mullock.

Skipper Sherbon was then sent off for a late challenge on Boundford, and the remaining 33 minutes was a tough watch for home supporters.

Mullock did well to deny Tom Goodwin after a nice move, but at the other end Rodon aimed a header at Perry, and sub Jon Owen surged down the left to create a chance for Dafydd Jones, with Perry once again in the right place.

Alex Fletcher pulled a superb save from home stopper Mullock with a dipping effort, and Oswell headed wide as he went for his hat-trick.

Two minutes from time, however, Oswell beat the offside trap to curl the ball past Mullock, to complete his second hat-trick of the season.

The action didn’t stop there, as Keiran Mills-Evans made a last ditch tackle to deny Owen, and a smart Perry save denied Phil Baker to preserve a deserved clean sheet.

But it could have been five in the final seconds, as Boundford’s speculative effort just missed the target.

ABERYSTWYTH: C Mullock, D Rees (C Davies 54), S Rodon,P Baker, J Crowther, G Kellaway (D Jones 68), L Sherbon, L Borrelli (J Owen 61), M Melvin, D Alfei, M Jones. Subs not used: L Healey, R Wollacott, J Rimmer.

NEWTOWN: J Perry, C Williams, K Mills-Evans, S Sutton, J Price (S Edwards 84), A Fletcher, T Goodwin (R Stephens 81), N Mitchell, L Boundford, J Oswell, N Rushton (R Kershaw 74). Subs not used: G Cadwallader, D Rose (gk), J Kenton, W Evans. Att: 299.