89 goals in 71 games – the stunning record of prolific Wessex League pair Zack Willett and Brett Pitman

At Portchester, Brett Pitman arrived in the ninth tier last summer having plundered 194 goals in 611 professional appearances for Bournemouth, Bristol City, Ipswich, Pompey, Swindon and Bristol Rovers.

With that sort of background, it is perhaps no real shock he has struck 50 goals in all competitions for the Royals this season.

Of that haul, 44 have come in the league, a total only two Premier strikers had beaten prior to this season in the last 17 years - Jamie White (Winchester, 51, 2011/12) and Justin Bennett (Andover, 48, 2005/06),

But Pitman could still miss out on finishing as the section’s top scorer as he goes into Tuesday’s finale at Bemerton one goal behind Horndean’s Zack Willett.

In contrast to Pitman, Willett arrived in the Wessex Premier from Paulsgrove - a step of two rungs up the non-league ladder rather than one of five steps down that Pitman took when he was released by Bristol Rovers last summer.

While Pitman was playing in League 2 for Swindon in 2020/21, Willett was appearing in county football on a Saturday while also playing regularly for Southsea United in the City of Portsmouth Sunday League on council parks pitches.

And while Pitman has played at Wembley and in the Championship, the biggest crowd Willett has ever played in front of was the 1,485 who saw him bag a crucial winner at Portchester earlier this month.

Willett has never played higher than the ninth tier of English football, though that could change next season with Horndean guaranteed a top two finish - meaning either automatic promotion to the Southern League or a play-off final with a step 4 place for the winners in 2023/24.

Pitman has led the Wessex Premier goal charts virtually all season, but was overhauled by Willett last Thursday when the pacy youngster scored Horndean’s second in a 2-0 win at Baffins.

Two days earlier he had drawn level with Pitman, scoring twice in a 4-0 Five Heads Park win over Brockenhurst.

He has now scored a stunning 87 league and cup goals for the Deans in just 80 starts plus three off the bench – figures boosted by SIX league hat-tricks this term.

Both players have of course been key to their side’s title challenge - Pitman has scored 38.2 per cent of his side’s league goals and Willett 36 per cent of his team’s.

Both players have set new club Wessex seasonal scoring records - the Royals’ previous league highest was 38 (Simon Woods, 2011/12) and the Deans’ previous best was 40 (Connor Duffin, 2021/22).

Yet Pitman’s goals have been far, far more important to Portchester than Willett’s have to Horndean.

His 44 goals have been worth a total of 25 points to the Royals this term, including two games where his goals were worth six points - a brace in a 2-1 win against Blackfield and a treble in a 3-2 win at Portland.

Willett’s goals, meanwhile, have been worth just nine points to Horndean.

In all competitions, Pitman’s 50 goals have come from 42 starts and three sub appearances. Willett’s 49 goals have arrived from 38 starts plus three sub outings.

Since records began, never before have two strikers both scored 40-plus goals in a Wessex Premier campaign.

Pitman and Willett, therefore, deserve their place in the Wessex record books. So just two questions remain - which of these two strikers with vastly differing backgrounds will end up with the Golden Boot, and who will end up with a title winners’ medal?

2022/23 Wessex League Premier

Zack Willett

Starts - 33 (plus one as sub). Goals – 45.

Hat-tricks – v Cowes Sports (home AND away), v Laverstock (home), v Bournemouth (home), v Alresford (home), v US Portsmouth (home)

Brett Pitman

Starts: 36 (plus one as sub). Goals – 44.

Hat-tricks – v Portland (away), v Alresford (home, 4 goals), v Blackfield (home).