In-form Deal hitman Connor Coyne is eyeing team success to cap a memorable season as he reflects on bagging his 100th goal for the club.

Coyne reached the milestone during their 5-2 comeback win over Bearsted last Tuesday - amid a run of seven goals in four matches for the 29-year-old.

The fourth-placed Hoops host second-placed Sheppey tonight, with Derek Hares' side also in the Challenge Cup quarter-finals - where they will play Sheppey again on Tuesday, March 8.

There are 15 league points between the sides but Deal do have two games in hand on the Ites.

Coyne revealed: “The whole time I have been at Deal, I have never actually won anything.

“So even if we can get to a cup final, that would be amazing - winning it would be even better!

“All the time we keep winning, we are in the race for a play-off spot as well.”

The former Dover Academy man, an electrician, was first informed he was closing in on a century of goals for the club by Deal director Nick Dunn.

“I scored on the Saturday a couple of weeks ago and then on the Monday against K Sports. Nick Dunn then text me to say ‘I don’t know if you know but you are on 95 goals for the club’ which I didn’t,” he explained.

“He said it would be nice if you did it with a hat-trick and then two more in the next game - which is exactly what happened! It was an amazing feeling.

“I didn’t really know what to do, to be honest.

"One thing I did do is I found one of the fans, Callum Brayne, ran straight to him and gave him a massive hug.

"It was brilliant to get my 100th goal in front of the home fans, as well, and with my dad watching, who has watched me since I was a kid."

Coyne has enjoyed prolific spells with the Hoops, who he first joined on loan from Folkestone in 2014, but he thinks his present hot streak might be his best yet.

He commented: “I think, in my second year with Deal, I got 25 and I had a couple of runs in that. But I think getting seven in four is new for me!

“I scored that 100th goal and then Kingy (coach Steve King) brought me off straight away, which I was a bit gutted about. I would have loved to have got back-to-back hat-tricks.

“But he said to me ‘You were lucky because I was about to bring you off anyway!’”

There is certainly a feel-good factor around the Charles Sports Ground at the moment.

Coyne added: “We are having a really good season. It's probably the best squad we've had in all the time that I've been there. All the time I have been here, we have been around mid-table.

“We have had a few cup runs but, this season, we are competing with the big boys. We have a really good squad.

“The majority of our squad have played together for about four years now. We have always known we can beat anyone, but we have got that consistency now.

“Defensively, we are doing well.

"I think we are only behind Chatham for (least) goals conceded, that’s probably one of the main reasons behind our success.”

The Hoops host strugglers Tower Hamlets this Saturday, with last weekend’s game at Glebe postponed due to a waterlogged pitch.