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Leon Osman's precisely converted finish at Villa Park a fortnight ago gave the often underestimated Evertonian an unusual but prestigious place in the club’s record books.

It was the 11th successive season that Osman has scored a top flight goal for the Toffees.

To put that achievement into some kind of perspective, only one other player has reached the same landmark since the Great War – and it wasn’t Dixie Dean.

Of course it goes without saying that the legendary centre-forward scored in 11 successive seasons for the Blues. He actually did it for 14 – even a broken skull following a motorcycle accident which threatened his life failing to staunch his goal flow – but because one of those campaigns was in the Second Division, the most top flight seasons in succession the great man could manage was eight.

So which legendary marksman joins Ossie in the 11-in-a-row club?

Bob Latchford? Roy Vernon? Joe Royle or Alex Young perhaps?

The answer is a defender: A genuine Goodison legend – and the last man to lift some meaningful silverware over his head.

He might have been a once or twice a season marksman, but from the header he planted past Martin Hodge on January 17 1987 through to the only goal of a crucial game against Derby County in March 1997, Dave Watson was an annual contributor to the Blues’ goals scored column.

That Derby County strike actually came a fortnight before Waggy took over as caretaker-boss – and his last Everton goal came two seasons later in a League Cup tie at Huddersfield.

Dave Watson, like Leon Osman, represented reliability and longevity.

So, too, did another Blueblooded Braveheart – a man who just missed out on a share of Watson and Osman’s record.

Mick Lyons was a Goodison warrior – the absolute antithesis of today’s culture for constantly-changing clubs and feigning injury.

Big Mick did score in 11 separate seasons for the Blues, but he saw his run interrupted in the wretched 1979-80 campaign when Everton managed just 43 league goals in 42 matches – a season where Lyons made 52 appearances in all competitions but uncharacteristically failed to score a single goal.

Some may say that near-miss was typical of Lyons’ luck.

He missed out on a League Cup winners medal in 1977 – despite scoring in English football’s only 2nd replay of a Cup Final, he missed out on a title winner’s medal in 1975 – when Billy Bingham’s front-runners fell away like Devon Loch in the last few strides, and he missed out on a cherished first Everton victory over Liverpool for seven years in 1978 – because he was injured.

That still didn’t stop him memorably celebrating Andy King’s matchwinner – resplendent in fawn Farah slacks and Royal Blue tracksuit top.

And he finally got his long-awaited derby win in the FA Cup three years later.

But big Mick’s status as a “nearly-man” was undeserved – perhaps signposted when he scored his first goal for the Blues at Nottingham Forest in March 1971, and the strike wasn’t shown on Match of the Day because of a newsflash!

Everton rarely boasted a more loyal, committed and courageous servant.

In Leon Osman they have a footballer today who embodies those same qualities.

Now he has a place in the record books to mark it.