Player of the Month Joe Thomson happy to assume scoring responsibility

Larne’s Joe Thomson is November’s Player of the Month

Larne midfielder Joe Thomson admits the nickname ‘Joe The Goal’ sits easily on his shoulders.

The 26-year-old former Celtic and Derry City man has been instrumental in helping Tiernan Lynch’s Sports Direct Premiership champions cling to the tails of Linfield, who had established a healthy eight-point lead in the League campaign at one stage.

But Thomson recently netted vital goals against Cliftonville, the Blues and Coleraine which catapulted Larne right back into the title mix — and they could reach the summit on Friday night if they defeat Glenavon at Inver Park.

Thomson hit four goals over what was a perfect month for Lynch’s men — a feat that earned the former Scottish Under-21 international November’s Dream Spanish Homes Player of the Month, award, nominated by the Northern Ireland Football Writers’ Association.

“I don’t know about the Joe The Goal title, but I’ll take it,” quipped Thomson. “It’s nice to receive an award like this for the first time.

“However, if the team doesn’t do well, then you don’t get awards like these. Most importantly, it was a good month for the club — we had the perfect month.

“We had four hard, tough games against top six opposition. We wanted to put ourselves back into contention at the top of the table and we managed to do that.

“The win against Linfield, the League leaders, wasn’t any more important than the other three victories in the month — they were all vital. We played against four good sides in four tough games, but I think we gave a good account of ourselves.”

Thomson, who joined Larne in the January transfer window last year, believes it will be much more difficult retaining the League title than it was winning it for the