IF ever a footballer had a rollercoaster story of elation and despair to tell, it is Darlington's former youth team striker Neil Tarrant.

From being dropped by his home town club as a youngster and wandering the soccer wilderness, to breaking Ross County's transfer fee record with a £150,000 move to Premiership team Aston Villa and playing for Scotland Under-21s, he has seen a lot in his young life.

But the joy at signing for the Midlands club turned to misery as he struggled to get a place in the team and found himself farmed out on loan to Ayr United, where he found success, and Motherwell, where things did not go so well.

However, the 22-year-old last night secured a free transfer back to Ross County until the end of the season in the hope of receiving a morale boost and getting back into first team action.

Alastair Kennedy, chief executive at the Scottish club, praised Neil's willingness to put his desire for action above the need for money.

The club's manager, former Villa man Neale Cooper admitted this was a key factor, saying that the club "shouldn't have been able to afford him".

Neil's agent, Alex McLaughlin, said there had been no doubt that he would want to return when the spell at Motherwell ended abruptly on Friday.

Even Neil's often expressed hope of one day returning to Darlington and making it into the first team did not stand in the way.

"We are very confident that this is a club that can do well for him," said Mr McLaughlin.

"Neil has come back a more adept player than what he was when he left."

There is no bitterness towards Aston Villa or manager John Gregory, because, as Mr McLaughlin said: "We've had two-and-a-half years of quality coaching."

The last spell at Ross County was one of Neil's most fruitful in front of goal.

In his first season he scored 12 Scottish Division Three goals in 16 games, before a 1998/9 tally of 24 goals in 33 games - including three hat-tricks - in the championship winning side.

While Neil has improved in his time away, the club has moved on into Scottish Division One.

The Northern Echo has been chronicling Neil's career since he signed YTS terms with the Quakers in 1995, after leaving the town's Eastbourne School