CORK DUAL STAR Saoirse Noonan has landed the Barretstown / Women’s National League Player of the Month award for September.
Former Ireland underage international Noonan takes the gong after Cork City’s glittering winning run.
The Leesiders have won their last five league outings on the bounce, powering into third, having lost their two opening fixtures before this rich vein of form.
And Noonan — a senior inter-county Gaelic footballer with the Rebels too — has been central to this stunning success.
The gifted attacker bagged goals against Athlone Town and Wexford Youths to bring her tally to three for the season, but her overall contribution, between passing, link-ups, assists and general forward play on top of game management, leadership and footballing intelligence, has been nothing short of excellent
“Saoirse has loads of ability and talent, but sometimes we forget how young she is as she only turned 21 recently,” Cork manager Ronan Collins said. “During lockdown she put a lot of effort into herself and that is bearing fruits now.
“She is very good on taking on information on the pitch…we might be ahead in a game and need to close it out and she executes our instructions perfectly. Her role is quite varied but she has fulfilled every task we have given her.
We have definitely seen her leadership skills grow and that is shown not just in her six assists and quality in finding a pass but in her growth as a player. She is very hungry to be successful and wants to drive her team on to be a success.”
“Over the past number of weeks we have put the focus on performance with the hope that the results will come – and they have,” Collins added.
“The girls have been great with that and with taking on the responsibility of solving problems on the pitch. In other words, they are doing work that people might not always see and that is the same with Saoirse — she is benefitting from the work that she does off the pitch as much as on it.”
Wexford Youths teenage sensation Ellen Molloy — who’s been involved with Vera Pauw’s Ireland squad of late — took the prize for August.
Delighted with this award, been a great month for myself and the girls 💚 https://t.co/37g6HLhulI
— Saoirse Noonan (@saoirse_noonan) October 7, 2020
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