Steve Jones hit a hat-trick as five-star Southport demolished Forest Green 5-1 at Haig Avenue.

Simon Parke and Lee Elam also got on the scoresheet for the hosts, with Mark Cooper grabbing Forest Green's goal.

Victory ensured Southport finished the season on a high, while lifting them above their opponents in the table.

The tone for the match was set with less than five minutes on the clock, Steve Whitehead stinging Forest Green goalkeeper Jason Pearcey's hands with a fierce shot.

Jones broke the deadlock on the quarter-hour mark, firing past Pearcey from the edge of the penalty.

However, Mark Cooper levelled for Forest Green from the penalty spot after Carl Heggs was brought down by Southport goalkeeper Steve Dickenson.

Parke restored Southport's lead 28 seconds after the interval, rising highest to meet Andrew Scott's free-kick.

Scott was again the provider after 55 minutes, this time providing Jones with an inch-perfect cross from which he made no mistake.

Dickenson's dismissal for a second bookable offence just after the hour, had little bearing on the outcome.

Indeed, far from giving Forest Green hope, it seemed to spur Southport on, with Elam poking home and Jones completing his hat-trick from distance in the space of two minutes.

Southport: Dickenson, Barry Jones, Clark, Teale, Lane, Elam, Steve Jones, Grayston, Scott, Parke, Whitehall. Subs: MacAuley, Muldaney, Robertson, Howell, Morgan.

Forest Green: Pearcey, Cousins, Lee, Jenkins, Travis, Coupe, Tearney, Cooper, Futcher, Heggs, Hopkins. Subs: Meechan, Impey, Adams, Sykes, Perrin.

Referee: Andy Penn (Kingswinford).