Swaffham Town hot-shot Joe Jackson has turned down an approach from the club’s Thurlow Nunn Premier Division neighbours Thetford Town.

The Pedlars striker, who has scored two hat-tricks in four First Division games this term, told Thetford boss Mark Scott on Twitter that he appreciated his interest but was “going to stay at Swaffham”.

Jackson bagged a treble during his side’s 5-0 victory at Stowmarket Town on Saturday and Swaffham boss Paul Hunt admits he is delighted about his frontman’s decision.

The Pedlars boss said: “Jacko’s put in two-and-half years of hard work to make him the player he is today. It’s about sticking with players through the hard times and working on the unpolished diamonds.

“He’s had a really good spell at the start of the season and some clubs often look for that instant hit. I told Jacko about the seven-day approach before their manager went public on Twitter, which I don’t think is a great route to go down.

“Jacko’s not interested in leaving. He’s really enjoying himself here and has brought into our ethos. We want to move forward as a club and Jacko’s another player who is a big part of that.”

Rory Harper also netted twice during fifth-placed Swaffham’s third win in a row.

On Saturday the Pedlars welcome unbeaten Braintree Town Reserves, who are fourth, to Shoemakers Lane. The Reserves are away to Easton in the Cyril Ballyn Cup on Saturday (2pm) while the A Team travel to Tacolneston to start their campaign (3pm).

The U18s begin their Eastern Counties Youth League season tomorrow (Thursday) with a tough home fixture against Histon before visiting Bury Town on Monday in the FA Youth Cup. Both matches kick off 7.45pm.

Even without Jackson, Thetford’s season has taken an upward turn after a difficult start to life in the Premier Division.

Last Tuesday, at the fourth time of asking, Thetford recorded their first win of the season when they came away from Norwich United with a 2-1 victory – a particularly sweet victory after losing last season’s leading scorer Matt Dixon to the Planters.

United made a great start, with Mark Baxter driving home a Louis Cutajar cutback after just two minutes, but they were unable to maintain the momentum and Town equalised on 58 minutes when Liam Bolton volleyed past Ben Nower.

The winner came two minutes from the end with Tom Cusack firing home from just outside the box.

This weekend Thetford hope to continue their upsurge of form when they play host to third-placed Woodbridge Town (3pm).