Holmes was the star of the show as Weymouth produced one of their most emphatic performances of the campaign, thrashing Slimbridge 5-0 away from home.

The striker struck twice inside the opening 15 minutes before completing his treble late on, with Lewis Brown and Calvin Brooks also on target.

Wells was delighted to see Holmes add another three goals to an already formidable career record.

He said: “There’s no mistaking Toby’s record.

“His 300 goals in 400-odd appearances is his conversation at the minute and, like I say, he should be proud of it.

“He’s put another three onto that today as well.

“I’m really pleased to have him in our side and not be against him.

“That’s ultimately why we signed him in the summer. It was one of the things that Jason and I moved on quickly in the summer and now you can see why.”

Holmes’ early opener set the tone for an afternoon when Weymouth regularly threatened the Slimbridge goal.

Wells added: “Obviously we got the first goal after a couple of minutes and it set the tone for the rest of the game.

“Really happy with the performance today. There were some really good spells during it.

“The pitch made it tough at times to really play, but I thought the lads dealt with it really well.

“We probably could have had a few more than five.”

Weymouth led 2-0 at the interval but Slimbridge threatened immediately after the restart, forcing Gerard Benfield into an important save.

For Wells, the manner in which his side responded was particularly pleasing after previous matches in which the Terras had failed to kill opponents off.

He said: “Gez has had to make a great save to keep it at 2-0 and it’s been a story where we’ve always left that door open.

“But second half, we really closed the door and put them to the sword and got three in the second half.”

Despite the comprehensive scoreline, Wells praised a Slimbridge side who continued competing throughout.

He said: “They worked hard from start to finish.

“They’ve picked up some good results and I’m surprised where they are. We’re surprised by their position in the league, to be honest.

“Credit to them. They worked hard, they didn’t stop and they kept going all the way to the end.”

Wells was also delighted that Weymouth rewarded another strong travelling support with five goals.

“The turnout at home and away has been excellent,” he said.

“For the away fans to come and to give them the five goals today is excellent.

“It’s not a local journey for them, so I really appreciate their efforts in coming to support us and I’m really glad we could give them a good performance and five goals to celebrate.”

Attention now turns to two cup fixtures, with Weymouth facing Poole in the Dorset Senior Cup tonight before hosting Hampton & Richmond Borough in the FA Trophy on Saturday.

Wells said opportunities would be handed to players who have featured less regularly in the Senior Cup, before the Terras attempt to claim another notable scalp in the Trophy.

He said: “There’ll be an opportunity for lads on Tuesday to get some minutes in and fight for their position in the team.

“There’ll also be some prep involved in that for Hampton on Saturday.

“We’re certainly looking at that as an opportunity to take another scalp against a team above us and continue that good form we’ve shown against teams above us.

“We want to go a long way in that competition and hopefully we can continue that on Saturday.”