PNE's Tom Barkhuizen has been named the winner of the Sky Bet Championship goal of the month award for March.
Barkhuizen impressed on his home debut, finishing off a fluent move with a stunning sweeping shot from the edge of the box.
The forward curled a first-time effort into the top corner in a 3-0 victory over the Royals, with that the first goal in a 3-0 win for North End and one of two successful strikes for Barkhuizen that afternoon.
The former Morecambe forward received 51% of the public vote, beating off competition from Blackburn Rovers' Martin Emnes and Rotherham United's Joe Newell.
It is the second time in as many weeks that the 23-year-old has been individually recognised, having also been awarded SkyBet’s player of the month award for March last Friday.
“It's always nice to get personal accolades,” Barkhuizen told PNE.Com. “I mentioned before that it would have been nice if we had picked up a few more points along the way but from a personal point of view, it was a really good month. I think it showed a different side to my game that I can score different types of goals.”
It was Barkhuizen’s first goal for the club at Deepdale on what was his first start at the home of PNE, his strike coming just after the half-hour mark.
“It was an important goal in the context of that game, they were on top and we broke and thankfully it went in the top corner and that set us on our way.
“It was a really nice way to introduce myself to the home fans and get off the mark at home because I think it's really important as a forward player to get a few early goals and show people what you can do.”
Lead Sky Bet EFL Goal of the Month judge and Sky Sports Pundit Don Goodman said: “At first glances, this goal is taken with such confidence, you feel it must be a player in the middle of a rich goal-scoring run.
“There’s a lot to be admired, the precision and accuracy as well as the control that Barkhuizen achieves on the strike is exceptional."