Nelson 8 Widnes Vikings 1

THE O’Neill brothers created North West Counties League history after they became the first three siblings to score in the same game.

On a day of records at Victoria Park, Matty, Joe and Ed all scored as Nelson cemented top spot in Division One and passed the 100 goal mark for the season.

But it wasn’t the only century of the day as Danny Finch played his 100th game for the club.

But the day belonged to the O’Neills as Ed’s 89th minute strike wrote the brothers in to the record books.

However it was Widnes who took the lead in the sixth minute through Brett Adamson.

But as soon as Peter Wright levelled everything fell in to place. George Melling made it 2-1 in the 29th minute before Matty became the first O’Neill to score in the 33rd minute – followed by brother Joe two minutes later on his Nelson debut.

Wright made it 5-1 with his second in the 38th minute and completed his hat-trick just before the hour mark.

But they day belonged to the O’Neills.

Matty scored the seventh in the 88th minute before Ed popped up with a last minute strike to complete the scoring.

The Admirals have now scored a remarkable 122 in all competitions and become the first club in both divisions of the NWCFL to reach 100 league goals.

Fell was full of praise for the three brothers and then revealed how Matty and Ed played their part in convincing former Preston player Joe to join the Nelson revolution.

“Matty and Ed have been here for a while but it was Joe who I really wanted to join,” said Fell. “I think his brothers more than played their part with a bit of gentle persuasion!

“Joe is terrific player and has played a lot of league games. It is understandable when I say I can’t remember anyone have such an impressive debut for Nelson in my time here.

“For three brothers to score in the same game it’s fantastic.

“As far as I am aware it has never been done before.”