BRANDON MIELE IS the SSE Airtricity/Soccer Writers’ Association of Ireland player of the month for September.
Miele has been rewarded for his excellent form for Shamrock Rovers. The winger scored Premier Division goals last month against Cork City and Finn Harps, as well as an FAI Cup quarter-final hat-trick in the Hoops’ win over Bluebell United.
The 23-year-old picked up the award for the first time since he joined Rovers in 2015. Dundalk’s David McMillan finished second in the voting, with Chiedozie Ogbene of Limerick third. Keith Ward (Bohemians), Bastien Hery (Limerick) and Rory Hale (Galway United) were the other three players to be nominated.
“That’s my first one so I’m delighted to get it,” said Miele. “It’s nice to be recognised and I was up against some top players so I’m really happy to win it. It was a good month.”
Shamrock Rovers are on the cusp of securing Europa League football again for next year by finishing third in the Premier Division, but Miele is still bitterly disappointed following Tuesday’s 4-2 extra-time loss to Dundalk in the semi-final of the FAI Cup.
He said: “It was horrible for us on Tuesday. It was a tight, good game but it was a bad way for us to go out of the cup. For us now it’s just about finishing strong and seeing where that takes us. We want to see how many points we can get and finish on a high.
“We started the season slow. Who knows what could have happened if we had got off to a better start? Obviously the manager brought in a lot of new players and it did take us time to gel. But we’ve gotten to know each other and we’ve kicked on. Next year we’ll be definitely looking to challenge.”
Miele, a native of Tallaght, is coming to the end of his third season with Shamrock Rovers. He returned home to Ireland after being released by Newcastle United in 2014, having spent four years with the Magpies.
