SHAMROCK ROVERS FORWARD Rory Gaffney has been named SSE Airtricity/Soccer Writers Ireland Player of the Month for October.
Gaffney, 33, played a central role as Stephen Bradley’s side landed a third league title in-a-row.
He scored three goals and bagged an assist in October as the Hoops won four and drew one of their five Premier Division games, and competed in the Uefa Conference League. He played every minute of the five league games.
The Tuam native’s 15-goal tally in all competitions — including three in Europe — makes 2022 his joint-best goalscoring season as a League of Ireland player.
Gaffney held of competition from Shelbourne’s Shane Farrell (second), UCD’s Mark Dignam and Mark Connolly of Derry City (joint-third) to scoop the prize he was previously nominated for in May, July and August.
“If I’m doing well as a striker, it probably means the team is doing well,” he said. “We had a good month. It was touch and go in the league with what was going to happen but thankfully we pulled it through in the end.
“It’s probably the first time, in the last number of years, I’ve played for what I would consider a proper team. It’s really organised from back to front. I’d like to think I could play any position, it’s how the manager coaches it. Here, the instruction is so clear. It works so well.
“It’s easy to play in his team. It helps that we get a lot of games in Tallaght. The pitch is perfect and there’s always a great atmosphere.
“There’s serious talent and I wouldn’t have played with lads as good down through the years.”
The win is Gaffney’s second SWI Player of the Month award. He first claimed the honour while playing for Limerick in August 2014, a little over eight years ago.
Asked whether he considers 2022 to be the best season of his career, he said: “Probably, off the back of Europe really. You could have a good season in the lower leagues in England but you’ll never get the chance to compete in Europe and play against some of the top-quality teams we’ve played against.”
