Bournemouth’s David Brooks scores a hat-trick on first start since cancer battle

DAVID BROOKS hit a hat-trick on his first start since his cancer battle.

The Bournemouth ace, who had a cameo at Aston Villa last weekend, netted three in a 45-minute outing as the development side beat Portsmouth 5-2 in the Hampshire Senior Cup.

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Brooks netted his treble by bundling in the first from close range before a strike with both his left and right foot in front of the watching Cherries boss Gary O’Neil at the Vitality Stadium.

Bournemouth’s official twitter account tweeted: “The perfect return for @DRBrooks15.

“The winger netted a hat-trick for the development squad this evening.”

It was the first time Brooks has scored since August 2021 when he found the back of the net against Nottingham Forest.

The 25-year-old has battled back from his Stage 2 Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis in October 2021.

But the Wales attacker revealed he was ‘cancer free’ last October.

After 529 days, Brooks was in the Bournemouth matchday squad and an unused sub against Liverpool earlier this month.

Then Brooks, who has 21 Welsh caps, came off for the final 11 minutes of the Cherries’ 3-0 Prem defeat at Villa Park on Saturday.

But Brooks will hope his goalscoring return can provide a personal boost ahead of the season run-in and a possible Wales return for Euro 2024 qualifiers in June.