North Leigh striker Matty Taylor says his commitment remains with his home club after signing a contract with the Evo-stick League (Southern) side.

Taylor, who scored 40 goals in all competitions for North Leigh last season, had been offered a full-time contract with Newport County in the Blue Square Bet Premier, but said the offer was not enough to tempt him into the professional game – yet!

Taylor and Kieran Sanders became the first players to sign contracts with the west Oxfordshire side since striker Andy McCabe in their Hellenic League days.

Taylor said: “I wanted to show a bit of loyalty to North Leigh. Offers have come in for me, but mainly from clubs in our league.

“I had an offer from Newport to go full-time, which I had to think about.

“Part of me wanted to go, but I can earn more staying at North Leigh than going full-time there.”

North Leigh boss Mark Gee said: “It’s allowed us to plan for the coming season.

“We had a number of approaches for both Matty and Kieran last year, and it’s unsettling for a club.

“They are young gifted players and we want to keep them.

“That said, we won’t stand in their way if the right offer comes in for either of them.”

Gee added: “Matty’s record last year speaks for itself, but Kieran has really developed in the last 12 months.

“He’s taken a lot of responsibility on in midfield for such a young lad and it really stood out last season.

“We’d love to put all 15 first team players on contract, but that’s obviously not viable.

“With Kieran and Matty though, it was an easy decision. They’ve been loyal to us and we wanted to repay them.”

North LEIGH friendlies Jul 16: Eastleigh (h), Jul 30: Kidlington (h), Aug 6: Ardley Utd (h); Aug 8: Shortwood Utd (h).