Exeter City have added to their attacking options by snapping up Barnet's free-scoring centre forward John O'Flynn.

The 28-year-old Irishman was out of contract at Underhill and joins the Grecians on a free transfer after spending the early part of pre-season on trial with Championship side Bristol City.

"I am delighted to be here, it is a great club, and it is one that is held in very high regard," O'Flynn said. "I have had some great feedback from those that have played here before.

"I am really looking forward to League One football, where I am aim to play as many games as I can, and the goals will come."

O'Flynn was a youngster at Peterborough United, but it was not until he returned to Ireland that the goals began to flow. He spent six years at Cork City where he won the League of Ireland and FAI Cup.

That led to a move to League Two side Barnet in September 2008 and he netted an impressive 34 goals in 77 appearances for the Bees.

However, his contract expired in the summer and despite Barnet's best efforts to keep him, O'Flynn opted to join Bristol City on trial, but he did not do enough to earn a contract with the Robins. However, Tisdale feels that their loss is Exeter's gain.

"I have been speaking to him and his agent for about a month now," Tisdale said. "During the summer, we were speaking to a number of strikers and he was one of the main ones we were interested in because firstly, he was a free transfer, secondly, he is a good age and thirdly, he has a very good goalscoring record.

"He was one of our priorities and I was quite sure he was interested in us as well. I was comfortable with him going to Bristol City because it is right that he should have the opportunity to play in the Championship and after that didn't work out for him, I kept watch on him."

The Grecians fought off plenty of competition for his signature with Gillingham and Lincoln City both publicly stating their interest in the striker.

"He had a lot of options and he was very clear with the sort of club that he wanted to go for," Tisdale added. "He liked the idea of Bristol City and Steve Coppell and I have no problem with that, but after that, I think we were very interesting to him.

"I kept the offer open to him and I am very pleased that as soon as he left Bristol City, he was very keen to get signed with us."

Tisdale added: "He is a good goalscorer, he has a good touch, he has got a very, very good work ethic and what really attracted me to him was that his personality and character is such that I think he will be a very good team player for us and a very good member of our team.

"He has all the attributes to be an Exeter City player.

"I don't think I have researched a player as much as I have John in terms of character references. I do a lot of due diligence as a manager to check that he will fit into the team and the personality of the dressing room. I am confident that he is the right type of person.

"We knew a fair bit about him from playing in League Two and you can't help but notice his goalscoring record. He has been scoring goals regularly and he is a player we were well aware of."

Despite landing O'Flynn, Tisdale stressed he has not ended his interest in on-trial striker Jamie Cureton.

"No, I would like to have Jamie with us as well," the City chief explained. "Jamie is well aware of that and I will try and sign Jamie as well if I can. If I can get Jamie, then that will be it for me."