Hat-trick hero Lewis 'buzzing' as he gets his goal reward for the Cobblers

The attacking midfielder was the star of the show on Saturday as Town saw off struggling Carlisle United 3-0 at Sixfields.

The former Tranmere Rovers man finished off a fantastic team move to make it 1-0 just before half-time, kept his cool to slot home after being teed up by Kion Etete early in the second, and then sealed the points in the 67th minute with an emphatic penalty conversion.

It was the second hat-trick of his professional career, with Lewis having also claimed the match-ball in his Macclesfield Town days back in the National League in 2017, and he was happy and relieved to take his tally for the season to four goals.

That means he is now joint top scorer along with Sam Hoskins and Etete, but the Liverpudlian admits he probably should have many more to his name.

"I am buzzing," said Lewis. "For a few weeks now I haven't scored the goals I should have, so to get a few goals on the scoresheet I am made up.

"They were all tap-ins if I am being honest, and that's down to great play by the lads.

"We started off a bit slowly but when we got into our rhythm and upped the gears I think we had a bit too much for them.

"The first goal was a great ball in by Ali (Koiki) and I just had to touch it, but the second one, sometimes you can get too much time, but I was buzzing to see it go in.

"For the penalty I felt confident."

Lewis's only previous goal for the club had come in the 2-2 draw at Salford City at the end of September, and he was delighted things finally came together for him against Carlisle.

"I always feel like I can score when I play," said the 26-year-old, who now has 39 career goals to his name from 269 appearances.

"Last week (at Tranmere) I missed a couple of chances when I should be scoring, so I always go into a game thinking I can score.

"It's just some days things come off for you."

"But it doesn't matter who is getting the goals as long as we keep on knocking off the wins and climbing that table."

The win saw the Cobblers stay in third in the Sky Bet League Two table, but they are now just four points off leaders Forest Green Rovers who drew 1-1 at Bradford City at the weekend.

"We are looking good and we are feeling confident," said Lewis.

"We are working hard and at half-time, even though we were 1-0 up, the gaffer has given us a bit of a rollicking.

"He said 'look, we need more', and I thought in the second half we had too much for Carlisle.

"They have a new manager, and early on they pressed us and made it awkward for us, and I don't think we were at our best with our clearances and our passing was a bit off.

"But at the end of the day it's what the scoreline is at the end of the game that counts, not what it is at the start of the game."