DANIEL Parslow withstood a late challenge from fellow defender James Meredith to win The Press Player of the Year trophy.

A hat-trick of successive man-of-the-match awards in the season’s finale saw Meredith close the gap on long-time leader Parslow to two points, with captain Chris Smith third.

Centre-back David McGurk and goalkeeper Michael Ingham occupied the next two positions, emphasising the defensive qualities of the team.

The other points towards the final standings from Saturday’s 1-1 draw at champions Crawley went to midfielders Andre Boucaud (two) and Scott Kerr (one), who were our second and third-highest rated performers respectively.

Meredith’s strong finish to the season earned him the final Press Player of the Month award with the two bonus points he picked up after polling the most man-of-the-match votes from visitors to our website ensuring he pipped Chris Smith in that contest.

The accolade was Meredith’s second of the campaign having taken the monthly honours in October too.

Parslow, meanwhile, scooped the prize three times in March, December and September, with Michael Rankine (January and November) another multiple winner. Goalkeeper Michael Ingham (February) and the since-departed Alex Lawless (August) clinched the other awards.

Rankine finished top scorer and at the summit of the assists table, scoring just one more goal than the tally he created for team-mates.

Midfielder Jonathan Smith’s late challenges saw him boast the worst disciplinary record with two red cards and 11 cautions, although he had his name taken 15 times in total with the dismissals for two bookable offences on both occasions.

The Press Player of the Year standings: Parslow 34 points, Meredith 32, C Smith 28, McGurk 25, Ingham 22, Till 19, Lawless 18, Rankine 16, Reed 13, Gash 11, Kerr 11, Chambers 10, J Smith 10, Young 8, Barrett 7, McDermott 7, Carruthers 6, Darville 6, Sangare 6, Boucaud 5, Fyfield 5, Racchi 5, Constantine 4, Weir 4, Mackin 2.

The Press Player of the Month for April standings: Meredith 16, C Smith 12, Kerr 4, Mackin 4, Reed 4, Chambers 3, Parslow 3, Boucaud 2, Constantine 2, Darville 2, Ingham 2, McGurk 2, Fyfield 1, Rankine 1.

Goals: Rankine 14, Reed 9, Constantine 8, J Smith 5, Till 4, Chambers 3, Lawless 3, Barrett 2, Racchi 2, Brodie 1, Carruthers 1, Fyfield 1, Gash 1, Mackin 1, McDermott 1, Meredith 1, Own Goal 1, Parslow 1, Sangare 1, C Smith 1, Young 1.

Assists: Rankine 13, Chambers 6, Till 6, Carruthers 5, Gash 4, J Smith 4, Fyfield 3, Lawless 3, Parslow 3, C Smith 3, Darville 2, McGurk 2, Meredith 2, Barrett 1, Brodie 1, Constantine 1, Ingham 1, Kerr 1, Weir 1.

Bad boys: J Smith two red cards, 11 yellow; C Smith nine yellow; Chambers seven yellow; McGurk, Kerr both one red, five yellow; Lawless, Rankine both six yellow; Boucaud, Carruthers, Meredith, Parslow, Young all three yellow; Ingham one red, one yellow; Barrett, Brodie, Darville, Gash, Racchi, Sangare all two yellow; Hatfield, Mackin, Reed, Weir all one yellow.