Goal-shy Harrogate Town sell striker Tom Cursons to Boston United for undisclosed fee

The relegation-threatened Sulphurites, who sit bottom of League Two and are currently the lowest scorers in the entire division, have looked fairly toothless in the final third all season, but particularly in recent months.

They have managed just three goals from open play in their last 11 outings in all competitions, and 24-year-old Cursons has scored two of those.

Indeed, he has bagged five in 16 appearances so far this term despite only having started eight of those games. Only Jack Muldoon (seven) and Stephen Duke-McKenna (six) have found the net more this term.

His overall record for the club since joining them from seventh-tier Ilkeston last January reads a very respectable seven goals in 14 starts (32 appearances).

Thus, there will doubtless be members of Harrogate's fan base who are surprised that arguably their team's most instinctive and natural finisher has been allowed to move on.

Yet, with manager Simon Weaver having brought in two new strikers in the shape of Emile Acquah and Aiden Marsh during the January transfer window, it seemed inevitable that something would have to give.

Their arrivals left Town with seven players who operate primarily as centre-forwards on their books, a large number for a team that has lined up with one up front in the majority of games this season.

And Weaver has spoken publicly on a number of occasions about the need for Cursons to go about his work with greater physicality.

While there is no doubt that the player could have affected more first balls and done a more effective job when leading the line, he was often asked to do so as a lone striker.

His return of 25 goals just 30 games for Ilkeston during the first half of 2024/25 demonstrates his undoubted finishing ability, and although raw in many areas of his game, it would have been interesting to see what he could have achieved as a League Two player under different circumstances.

A prolonged run in the team and being paired with an experienced number nine like Jack Muldoon or Mason Bennett, whom he could have learned his trade alongside, would surely have given him a better chance of flourishing.

Cursons’ final appearance for Harrogate came during last Saturday’s 3-0 home loss to Gillingham. Not for the first time, he was hauled off at half-time with Town struggling.

He then did not even make the substitutes’ bench for Tuesday night’s 2-1 defeat to Fleetwood, with his exit announced just three days later.