TOM Bradlaugh maintains he is not a prolific goal-scorer despite netting 27 times for Whitton United this season.

The 26-year-old has had his best return in senior football after joining the Thurlow Nunn League Division One club from Touchline SIL Senior Division side Grundisburgh last summer.

Bradlaugh, who is set to line-up against Ipswich Wanderers in Wednesday night’s LB Group Suffolk FA Senior Cup final at Portman Road, said: “I was not brought in to score goals. I am not a prolific goalscorer, although I got 21 or 22 for Grundisburgh last season.

“I have always created more than I have scored, but I am not under any pressure to score goals for Whitton.”

He scored ten times in his last eight league games but was pipped as top scorer in Division One by former Felixstowe & Walton United winger Adam Hampson, who netted five times as Braintree Town Reserves beat Team Bury 8-2 in their final match.

Bradlaugh decided to “give it another go” at a higher level this season, after signing for AFC Sudbury from SIL side Ransomes Sports at the start of the 2006/07 season.

He said: “I left Sudbury because I did my medial ligament and was out for four months. I went on loan to Needham Market and then went back to Sudbury, but I was not really fit and ended up going to Diss Town the following January.

“It didn’t work out for me there, so I decided to drop down and play for SIL side Ipswich Athletic where my dad (Glenn) was the manager, and start again.

“I then went to Grundisburgh to try to win the league and cup – I had won the Omnico Cup with Ransomes – before deciding to give it another go to play at a higher level.

“I started pre-season at Mildenhall Town, but they then changed their system just before the start of the season which didn’t suit me.

“I played for Felixstowe & Walton United in a friendly as a holding midfielder, but manager Steve Buckle could not promise me a place in the team.”

It was then that he signed for Whitton United, the side who ironically denied him a place in last season’s Suffolk Senior Cup final.

“I lost in two semi-finals while at Grundisburgh – against Team Bury and Whitton United – so this will be my first final and I am looking forward to playing at Portman Road because I have never played there before.

“I think we will be underdogs, although we have had a good season, bearing in mind manager Paul Bugg has had to completely rebuild the team from the previous season, and we are looking to strengthen the side for next season.

“We look to get it down and play, although the pitches have not helped, so hopefully the pitch at Portman Road will suit both teams.”