DEFENDER Joe Tait has won the first Press Player of the Month award of the season.

Tait was a clear winner of the August accolade after finishing four points clear of nearest rivals Macaulay Langstaff and Jon Parkin.

The former Spennymoor centre-back, who also tops The Press Player of the Year standings, put himself in the driving seat at the head of the leaderboard when he collected a maximum five points towards the contest during last weekend’s 0-0 draw at Brackley.

Tait was the The Press man-of-the-match in Northamptonshire and also topped our online Twitter poll, receiving three and two points for the respective honours.

The other Press points at Brackley went to Russ Penn (two) and debutant Fergus McAughtrie as our second and third-highest rated performers respectively.

During bank-holiday Monday’s 2-0 home triumph against Blyth Spartans, Simon Heslop was our man-of-the-match winner, taking three points towards the Player of the Year and Month competitions.

The other Press points were awarded to David Ferguson (two) and Langstaff (one).

Former Gateshead forward Langstaff went on to add the two Player of the Month bonus points to his haul after winning the Twitter man-of-the-match poll.

Joint-top scorer Parkin, meanwhile, also now leads the assists’ table, having won the header that led to fellow sub Adriano Moke’s goal against Blyth.

The Press Player of the Year standings: Tait 7, Griffiths 6, Parkin 5, Penn 4, Heslop 3, Langstaff 3, Newton 3, York 3, Bartlett 2, Ferguson 2, Wright 2, Allan 1, McAughtrie 1.

The Press Player of the Month standings for August: Tait 11, Langstaff 7, Parkin 7, Griffiths 6, Penn 6, Wright 4, Heslop 3, Newton 3, York 3, Bartlett 2, Ferguson 2, Allan 1, McAughtrie 1.

Goals: Langstaff 2, Parkin 2, Moke 1, Tait 1, York 1.

Assists: Parkin 2, Bartlett 1, Burrow 1, Ferguson 1, Griffiths 1, Langstaff 1.

Discipline: Bencherif, Wright both two yellow cards; Penn one red; Heslop, Ferguson, Kempster, Newton, Tait all one yellow.