THEY have been the undoubted hot-shots of our local clubs and finished among the top marksmen in the country.
Jack Lester and James Beattie have been way out in front of the rest, both cracking the 20-goal barrier every striker wants to break - and they could so easily have had more.
Lester would probably have broken the 30-goal mark had he not missed nine matches while Beattie would surely have added a few more goals in the dozen games he did not figure in.
Lester, returning to the Chesterfield side at the weekend after being out a month with a broken nose, signed off with his 27th goal of the season.
Of those, 25 came in the league and he was second overall in the League Two list behind Peterborough's Aaron McLean who scored 33 (29 were in the league).
Beattie's 22 left him third in The Championship behind Wolves' burly striker, Sylvan Ebanks-Blake who scored 25 in all (13 of them for Plymouth) and West Brom's Kevin Phillips (24).
At our local clubs, only four other players made it into double figures - Barnsley skipper Brian Howard with 14, Lester's teammate at Chesterfield, Jamie Ward, with 12 and two Rotherham United players Derek Holmes and Chris O'Grady, who both finished on 11,
Nearest to Beattie's tally at Bramall Lane was six from Billy Sharp and Jon Stead.
Sheffield Wednesday couldn't manage a double-figure man. Deon Burton's last-day double took his tally to nine to see him finish as top scorer, although Akpo Sodje scored seven before injury halted his season in January.
The top spot at Doncaster Rovers is shared by Paul Heffernan and James Hayter both with nine.
SHEFFIELD UNITEDJames Beattie 22, Billy Sharp 6 (4 lge, 2 cup), Jon Stead 6 (3 lge, 3 cup).
SHEFFIELD WEDNESDAYDeon Burton 9 (7 lge 2 cup), Marcus Tudgay 8 (7 lge, 1 cup), Akpo Sodje 7.
BARNSLEYBrian Howard 14 (13 lge 1 cup), Jon Macken 8, Istvan Ferenzci 5.
DONCASTER ROVERSPaul Heffernan 9 (7 lge, 2 cup), James Hayter 9 (6 lge, 3 cup), Jamie Price 8 (7lg 1 cup), Lewis Guy (8 (6lge, 2 cup), Mark McCammon 8 (4 lge, 4 cup).
ROTHERHAM UTDDerek Holmes 11, Chris O'Grady 11 (10 lge, 1 cup), Mark Hudson 9.
CHESTERFIELDJack Lester 27 (25 lge, 2 cup), Jamie Ward 12, Jamie Lowry 6, Adam Rooney 6.
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