First Division star Coughlan trumps Premier players to win Player of the Month

Waterford striker Ronan Coughlan has been named the SSE Airtricity/Soccer Writers Ireland Player of the Month for April after a sensational month in which he hit 11 goals.

The 27-year-old former Sligo Rovers and St Patrick's Athletic man scored in all five of Waterford's matches in the month as they picked up maximum points available to keep the pressure on First Division league leaders Galway United.

His 11-goal haul included four first half goals as the Blues beat Athlone Town 4-3 at the RSC and a hat-trick three days later in a 4-1 victory away to Treaty United.

Coughlan's career-best goalscoring spell also included a match-winning brace against Bray Wanderers and key strikes against Kerry and Cobh Ramblers as Keith Long's team completed a perfect April.

The win is Coughlan's first Player of the Month accolade. He had previously been nominated twice, in September 2020 while with Sligo Rovers and again in April 2021, shortly after joining St Pat's.

He is Waterford's second winner of the Player of the Month prize in just six months, after former Blues attacker Phoenix Patterson landed the award last September.

Coughlan finished first in the vote of SWI members in a very tight poll, finishing just ahead of Sligo Rovers' Max Mata, who leads the Premier Division scoring charts, in second.

Shamrock Rovers' Jack Byrne, who returned to form in eye-catching fashion in April, came in third.

Coughlan said: "It's great. I was nominated in the past when I was playing in the Premier Division, I think I was runner-up. That was the closest I ever got.

"I probably wouldn't have thought I'd have won it playing in the First Division but I'm delighted to have won it. It was a great month for myself."

He added: "We had five games in the month and I