IT WAS a debut that Roy of the Rovers would have been proud of and hat-trick hero Oliver McBurnie admitted it was better than even he’d dreamed of.

The 19-year-old, who arrived on loan from Swansea City on Thursday, scored three times in just 23 minutes on Saturday to fire Newport County AFC to a first League Two home win since March.

Luton Town were swept aside and Rodney Parade cheered a new hero who couldn’t believe his luck.

“It’s crazy,” said the Swans striker, who replaced Zak Ansah after 58 minutes before scoring in the 63rd, 79th and 86th minutes.

“The gaffer said ‘go on and make an impact’ and I think I did!

“Nobody would have really expected me to come on and get a hat-trick – not even me and I’m the most optimistic person.

“I was hoping to maybe nick one but to come on and get three…I couldn’t really have asked for more. I’m buzzing.

“It’s nice to help the team and obviously the three points is the most important thing but to get three goals and the ball is not bad either.

“I don’t think you can expect a hat-trick every 20 minutes from me but I’ll do my best.”

McBurnie revealed that he had to fight to keep the match ball after the final whistle.

“I scored a couple of hat-tricks at youth team level when I was at Bradford but they didn’t let me keep the match ball then,” said the Scotland under-21 international who hails from Yorkshire and started his career at Bradford City.

“It’s nice to get this one, although there was a bit of an argument over whether I was going to be able to keep it.

“I think I was going to have to pay for it at one point but they weren’t taking it off me!

“There are a lot of dark times in football and these are the good times you’ve got to savour and I will do exactly that.”

Exiles boss John Sheridan said he wanted his strikers to score more tap-ins after last Tuesday’s 1-1 draw at Oxford United and McBurnie delivered.

“I knew of him,” said Sheridan. “He’s a Leeds lad and he lives not too far away from where I am.

“Obviously he’s at Swansea now but I spoke to one or two people when he was at Bradford.

“He went to Swansea for a fee in the summer and he’s a player who was doing well in the under-21s.

“He’s just a bit different to what we’ve got and his goals are exactly what I was saying last week – little tap-ins.

“Other than his goals he won a couple of headers and you could see that his first touch is good.

“Technically he’s very good and his control of the ball was excellent; it’s a great debut for the kid.”