Frank Wallace scored a hat-trick as Enniskillen Town dispatched Division Three Newtownstewart to move into the last eight of the Mulhern Cup.

Newtownstewart are favourites to claim the second promotion spot from Division Three this season, but they were no match for the Division One challengers with Jamal Tavares scoring twice and Duwayne McManus adding to Wallace’s treble.

“It was a pleasing result,” admitted Town manager Rory Judge. “They look like they are getting promoted so they have obviously had a good season and must be in good form, and they were a very big side, but we handled them fairly easily to be honest. They didn’t have much power up front which was a big help. A home draw for the quarter-final would be nice!”

Town dominated possession in the opening quarter of the match, and the visitor's hopes were hit by an early injury to Tiernan Patton.

Town could not find the breakthrough until the half-hour mark when Ethan Beresford advanced down the left wing.

He got to the byline before cutting the ball back for Wallace, who slotted home from the edge of the six-yard box.

Having finally breached the Newtownstewart defence, Town added two more goals in the following nine minutes.

Wallace added the second, converting from 12 yards out after Conal Quinn cut the ball back, and Tavares then netted the third, running onto a James McKenna through ball and outpacing the defence before slotting past the keeper.

Tavares had not scored a goal for a year before he found the net last week, but he made it three goals in two games 12 minutes into the second half with a solo effort that saw him beat the full-back and fire past the keeper from a tight angle.

Substitute Matty Dixon was making his return from injury and he notched up an assist after just four minutes on the pitch, pulling the ball back for McManus who cut inside a defender and curled a shot in off the far post.

Dixon then turned provider for Wallace, who completed his hat-trick with a shot across the keeper and in off the post.

Town’s delight at the result was offset by the news that hat-trick hero Wallace suffered a broken bone that could rule him out of upcoming games.

“We have learnt that Frank broke his hand in the match and is in a plaster cast,” revealed Judge.

“After waiting so long to get him back and get a centre forward back in the team, he scores a hat-trick and turns out he has broken a bone.”