St Ives Town boss Ricky Marheineke has toasted success in his six-month chase for a new striker.

Marheineke has been on the trail of Andrew Phillips since the summer . . . and he has finally landed his man.

Phillips, a former Cambridge City and Histon player, has arrived from Northern Premier Division side Stamford AFC.

He is in line for a Boxing Day debut for Saints when they travel to Royston in Southern League Division One (Central), 1pm.

Marheineke said: “I worked with Andrew during my time as assistant manager at Histon. He is a proven goalscorer at higher levels and he is the hardest-working frontman I’ve ever known.

“I went after him in the summer, but he was happy at Cambridge City at that point. He’s since left them and been at Stamford, and this time I’ve managed to persuade him to sign.

“We haven’t scored enough goals this season and we’ve been desperately searching for a bit of extra firepower. We hope Andrew will be that man.”

Phillips is the second frontman to be signed by Saints in recent weeks, but Scott Joseph now has availability issues and did not feature in their 1-0 defeat at the hands of Egham last Saturday.

Saints now sit fourth in the table, six points behind leaders Chalfont St Peter.