DORCHESTER Town have signed Tom Purrington on a season-long permanent deal.

Purrington, 20, re-joins the Magpies having scored three times in 20 matches for the county town side in the 2019/2020 Southern League Premier South campaign.

Purrington is well known to Dorchester boss Robbie Herrera as the pair worked together during Herrera’s time with Plymouth Argyle’s Under-23 team.

Dorchester have fought off competition from Bromley for his signature after the midfielder made just one appearance for the Ravens last season.

However, Purrington played eight times for Bromley Under-23s in the Suburban Football League, scoring three goals.

Speaking to Echosport, Herrera was delighted to capture his first signing of the off-season.

He said: “He’s a good footballer – I know him from my time at Argyle.

READ MORE: Kevin Hodges in management - feature

“Kev (Hodges, assistant) knows him really well because he had him as a kid at the club and saw him go through to pro.

“He’s been at Bromley last season and they wanted him to stay, but he didn’t get much first-team game time.

“He was on the bench for most of it but didn’t get many minutes. He’s wanting regular first-team football – something we can provide him with.

“The reason we’ve managed to secure him is that he knows Kev and myself well.

“He knows the club, he was quite happy there last time round and knows what the facilities are like. He was keen to come back and play.”

Bromley made the National League play-offs this season but Purrington was often overlooked by new boss Andy Woodman.

Herrera added: “He’s nice on the ball but was a bystander when the new manager came in and Neil Smith had gone.

“They went a different way and he wasn’t figuring on the bench at that time.

“He was quite prominent for their 23s group and started adding goals to his game. They would’ve liked him to have stayed, but he’s wanting to get regular football.

“We’ll help him do that and you never know, it could help him push on again.”

Speaking to Dorchester’s official website, Herrera added: “He feels comfortable at the club, likes the facilities and he said he had a good relationship with Scott (Symes, chairman) obviously last time round, so he was more than happy to come and ply his trade with us.

“We will be looking for him to lead us on the pitch, get on the ball and make things tick for us.”

Elsewhere, Dorchester’s sports science coach and data analyst Connor Toland has decided to leave the Avenue Stadium.