Tom Chapman’s quickfire double sealed a win for Deal Town on Saturday - but it’s not only his goals that are helping the Hoops this season.

Boss Steve King praised the winger’s all-round contribution to the team after Deal’s 2-1 Isthmian South East victory over AFC Croydon Athletic.

“He's been outstanding,” said the Deal manager.

“He has 14 goals now before Christmas and he only got 11 or 12 last year when we won the league. He was outstanding for us then, but he has really stepped up when we’ve needed him.

“Over the last few years I brought him, Ashley Miller, Rory Smith and Aaron Milbank to the club, who we knew were all Step 4-standard players. We hoped that if and when we did get promoted that certainly our attacking players would carry a threat at this level.

“Where Rory and Aaron have been out for quite a while, it has hung a bit on Tom and Ash and they have stepped up to the plate.

“I work with Tom - he works in the same office! If we sat down at the start of the season and said 15 for the whole season, that would be a brilliant return for him but anyone that knows him as a player [knows] it’s not just his goals.

“He doesn’t even play central, he is not a goal hanger who gets 15 tap-ins. Tom’s contribution to the team is immense. He took the armband over last week and he took it on Saturday. He’s a real leader within the group. He has been absolutely superb for us.”

Chapman struck on 81 and 82 minutes to cancel out Croydon’s opener which came early in the second half. He finished the game with a deep gash in the leg and, with all five subs used, had to soldier on. However he is expected to be fine to play this weekend at home to Sheppey.

Deal’s comeback came a week after a 2-1 victory over Phoenix Sports, victories that ended a three-game losing streak.

“We had been through a bit of a blip,” King added.

“I think we knew when we got promoted that that was going to come at some point. It’s obviously just trying to manage that and not let it become a real long run.

“We had a few disappointing defeats but some good performances. To have won two games, a good win at home and a really good away win, six points on the board, it means it’s a positive, happy camp.

“I think it was a well-deserved win and we showed good character.

“Anybody at the game would certainly say we deserved it and Keith Millen (the Croydon manager), came out and said that for the last half an hour we were all over them, like a bit of a rash.

“We had lost five away games on the bounce and when you go 1-0 down it would be easy for the players to lose their confidence, but they didn’t.”

King’s men now face successive home league games, firstly welcoming the Ites to the Charles Ground on Saturday before entertaining Herne Bay on Boxing Day.

The Hoops are currently mid-table in their first season at a higher level and coping just fine. King has a points target he believes will keep them up and they’re not far off the mark already.

He said: “These are two big games for the club and it’s nice to be able to go into them on the back of two wins.

“Sheppey and Herne Bay both came very close to the play-offs last year. There should be two good crowds and we’re really looking forward to pitting our wits against them and seeing how we go.

“Our aim was to stay in the division and 42 points will probably keep you up. We are now on 30. We’ve got 22 games to try and get four more wins.

“We want to tick those four wins off as soon as we can and then reassess and set some more targets for the rest of the season. We have four games now, including January 1.

“If we can get somewhere close to 40 points at the end of it we will be delighted, but we know in this league it is very easy to go six or so games without a win and then, before you know it, you’re looking downwards rather than up.”