AND SMITH DOES SCORE

BARNABY ROSTANT LOOKS AT THE CAREER OF EVERGREEN CENTRE-FORWARD MATT SMITH..

- BARNABY ROSTANT

YOU don't tend to see many old-fashioned target men in English football these days, but Matt Smith is one of the exceptions.

The towering striker, who turns 35 this summer, is enjoying a cracking season with League Two outfit Salford City.

It's been a disappointing campaign for the Class of '92-backed Ammies and yet Smith has continued to shine, banging in the goals to be among the top scorers in the fourth tier.

The 6ft 6ins battering ram, whose dad lan combined playing football 16 alongside his medical career, may never have quite reached the heights of Peter Crouch and Andy Carroll as vertically gifted strikers but his journey up and down - the English football pyramid is a success story in itself.

Following his release from Cheltenham Town at the age of 18, Smith moved into Non-League football whilst studying at the University of Manchester.

He began his senior career at North West Counties Premier side New Mills in the ninth tier of English football.

Upon his return to England, following a year spent studying in the United States at Arizona State University, Smith featured for Redditch United, Droylsden and Solihull Moors in National League North in 2010-11, notching up 21 goals in total.

Just over two years after scoring a hat-trick for New Mills in the depths of the football pyramid and having all but given up on professional football, Smith got his big break. He joined League One outfit - and Premier League founding members Oldham Athletic - on a two-year deal.

It did not take Smith long to make headlines - ten days after his debut against Sheffield United at Boundary Park, he came off the bench to score the winning goal against Scunthorpe.