Divin Mubama clutched the match ball to his chest like a Christmas present in the five o'clock darkness that signals the arrival of the meaty part of the Championship season.
To stick with the festive theme, November began with fireworks at the Bet365 Stadium as his hat-trick, a brilliant solo effort from Junior Tchamadeu and another for Million Manhoef fulfilled a prophecy that manager Mark Robins has repeated several times over the past few weeks.
Stoke haven't been scoring enough, they haven't been efficient enough in front of goal, and their brilliant start to the season has been characterised by hard-fought wins.