Ryan Bowman made it back-to-back home hat-tricks as free-scoring Exeter thrashed Tranmere 5-0 at St James Park.

Having notched a treble against Colchester in the Grecians’ last home game, Bowman added another in a totally dominant Exeter performance.

His first goal came on nine minutes when Matt Jay managed to squeeze the ball through to Bowman and he nutmegged a defender before placing the ball over Scott Davies and into the roof of the net from 12 yards.

It was 2-0 when Peter Clarke slipped and handballed on the ground, allowing Jay to send Davies the wrong way from the penalty spot for his 11th of the season.

Bowman made it 3-0 on 28 minutes when Jay robbed Manny Monthe of possession and passed to his fellow forward, who cut in from the right, beat a defender and slotted into the far corner.

Tranmere barely threatened and made a quadruple change at the break. Paul Lewis headed straight at Exeter goalkeeper Jonny Maxted with a rare chance, but Jake Taylor rammed in the hosts’ fourth on 73 minutes from 20 yards.

The hat-trick was complete after 77 minutes when Taylor sent Joel Randall scampering clear and he squared for Bowman to tap into an empty net. It was Exeter’s 33rd goal in their last ten matches.