JON Parkin was the clear winner of The Press Player of the Year prize despite missing seven of the last eight matches due to injury.

The 25-goal top scorer finished seven points clear of nearest rival Aidan Connolly with third-placed skipper Sean Newton a distant 12 behind.

Parkin extended his winning margin by taking two points as our second-highest rated performer during the season-ending 2-0 defeat at Brackley.

The other Press points went to our man-of-the-match Connor Brown (three) and Parkin’s fellow second-half substitute Vinnie Steels (one), who was the third-highest rated performer.

Brown also collected the two Player of the Month bonus points available for the person who received most man-of-the-match votes from our Twitter poll.

Sixteen-year-old winger Steels finished a point ahead of Brown and Newton, though, to bag the final award for April following this season’s other winners Newton (August), Jon Worsnop (September), Connolly (October), Parkin (November), Alex Pattison (December), Adam Bartlett (January, February) and Dan Parslow (March).

Connolly, meanwhile, topped the assists table with ten – two more than Louis Almond and Newton – while Simon Heslop’s two red cards and five yellow meant he ended the campaign with the worst disciplinary record in front of Brown and Daniel Rowe, who were both cautioned five times.

Press Player of the Year final standings: Parkin 33, Connolly 26, Newton 21, Bartlett 18, Bencherif 18, Law 18, Parslow 18, Moke 17, Heslop 13, Almond 12, Burn 11, Ferguson 10, Worsnop 10, Whittle 9, Morgan-Smith 8, Pattison 8, Brown 5, Smith 5, Steels 4, Rankine 3, Rowe 3, Correia 2, Kempster 2, Martin 2.

The April Press Player of the Month standings: Steels 8, Brown 7, Newton 7, Burn 6, Bencherif 5, Law 3, Heslop 2, Kamdjo 2, Parkin 2, Parslow 2, Bartlett 1, Connolly 1, Moke 1, Smith 1.

Goals: Parkin 25, Newton 10, Connolly 6, Morgan-Smith 5, Heslop 4, Burn 3, Almond 2, Kempster 2, Moke 2, Own Goal 2, Parslow 2, Rankine 2, Correia 1, Felix 1, Ferguson 1, Gray 1, Law 1, Martin 1, Rowe 1, Smith 1.

Assists: Connolly 10, Almond 8, Newton 8, Heslop 5, Parslow 5, Ferguson 4, Gray 4, Law 4, Moke 4, Morgan-Smith 4, Parkin 4, Martin 3, Whittle 3, Bencherif 1, Correia 1, Felix 1, Kempster 1, Pattison 1, Peacock-Farrell 1, Worsnop 1.

Bad boys: Heslop two red, five yellow; Brown, Rowe both five yellow; Bencherif one red, three yellow; Burn four yellow; Ferguson one red, two yellow; Newton three yellow; Connolly, Wharton, Worsnop all two yellow; Parkin one red; Gray, Law, Moke, Parslow, Smith, Whittle all one yellow.