Southend United defender Leon Cort became the first central defender to score a hat-trick for the club as the Shrimpers beat rock-bottom Boston United 4-2 at Roots Hall.
All three of his goals were headers with Mark Rawle adding the other goal for Rob Newman's side as Southend moved up to 14th in the Nationwide Division Three table.
However, Neil Thompson's tenure as Boston manager could be coming to an end as the Pilgrims crashed to their eighth successive defeat.
The Lincolnshire club is in grave danger of returning to the Nationwide Conference following their controversial promotion last season and this latest defeat leaves them three points away from safety.
Cort headed Kevin Maher's free-kick home in the seventh minute before doubling the lead in the 23rd minute by heading Damon Searle's free-kick past Paul Bastock in the Boston goal.
Former Boston striker Rawle fired home the third six minutes before the break to effectively seal all three points.
The visitors briefly threatened to get back into the game as second-half goals by Richard Logan and Mark Angel brought Thompson's side to within one goal of Southend.
However, Southend secured the win and Cort completed his hat-trick with two minutes left when he headed Maher's free-kick into the bottom left-hand corner of the net.
The former Millwall defender became the first Southend player to score a hat-trick for seven years as Newman's side secured their fifth win at Roots Hall this season.