Quakers scored 118 goals in all competitions this season, with Graeme Armstrong the top scorer with 24 league goals, but Tom had more goals in the last five than his team mates..

His first was his run from the halfway line and shot into the top corner against Bamber Bridge in the league, and his second was a curler with the outside of his right foot from the corner of the box against Lancaster City. His goal against Bamber Bridge was voted the goal of the season by the fans, but it wasn’t the only award that Tom won – he was also voted Player of the Year by his team mates and the sponsors.

“It was nice to be part of the vote, but all goals mean the same,” he said. “They help to win matches, and as far as I’m concerned, everyone’s a winner. For my first goal, I picked the ball up on the halfway line, and saw the space to drive into. The defenders backed off, so I kept going to the edge of the area and thought that I meant as well hit it. The ball flew into the top corner.

“For my second goal, the only place I could put the ball was into the bottom corner, so I used one of their players as a marker, and fortunately the ball curled into the bottom corner of the net.”

[caption id="attachment_11904" align="alignnone" width="300"] Tom celebrates his goal of the season[/caption]

Tom has become a crowd favourite in midfield since he signed last summer. “We had a great start to the season. We played some very good football before the game was abandoned against Warrington, and then I thought we produced our best performance of the season at Spennymoor. We didn’t give anything away that day. On their day, Spennymoor were possibly the best side in the league.

“But it was all about grinding out results when it mattered – for example, our 1-0 win at Northwich. I think every time we had a bad result, we picked ourselves up straight away and won the next game.

“Our objective at the start of the season was to win promotion, and I must admit that I think it’s better going up through the play offs because it’s more exciting. To be 2-1 down against Spennymoor with ten minutes left and then win 3-2 was very exciting, and is all part of the play offs.”

[caption id="attachment_11903" align="alignnone" width="300"] Tom celebrates promotion[/caption]

Tom has played in the premier division before, for Whitby Town for two seasons.

“It will be a lot harder in the premier division, because there are more teams who are capable of challenging for promotion. In the First Division North, there were maybe six or seven teams who were challenging for promotion, next season there will be ten or twelve.

“But realistically, we should be looking to finish in the play offs. We’ve got a very good squad, and if we continue to stick together, then anything can happen. We certainly don’t lack goals with the strikers we have, and our defence is pretty solid. Whitey is a beast, sometimes I keep away from him. He has me in stitches on the field at times though.”

Our promotion special programme and DVD will be launched in the Dolphin Centre on Saturday morning at 10am. The programme costs £5 and the DVD £12, but the pair can be bought for £15, a saving of £2