Waterford hotshot Lonergan named July's Player of the Month

GOLDEN BOOT-CHASING TOMMY Lonergan of Waterford has won the SSE Airtricity/Soccer Writers Ireland Player of the Month award for July.

Dunboyne-born Lonergan continued to spearhead the Blues resurgence and has firmly taken hold of the league’s golden boot race with two more goals as well as two assists in July to leave the 22-year-old ahead by three.

The in-form striker and ex-Fleetwood Town loanee has helped Waterford maintain their unbeaten run over the month under review, and was a landslide winner after a nationwide poll.

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He claimed 50 points with Shane Farrell (Drogheda United) second on 17 points, with Cian Kavanagh (Sligo Rovers) one point further back.

Also on the shortlist were Sam Todd of Bohemians, John McGovern of Shamrock Rovers, and Lonergan’s RSC team-mate John Mahon.

Lonergan scored again in the Blues’ 3-1 home win over Bohemians as they moved out of the bottom two in the Premier Division for the first time all season, bringing his tally to 14 goals.

“We are definitely on a good run of form and we have been building on this momentum since Graham (Coughlan) came into the club,” said Lonergan after accepting his first such award.

“I feel the team and myself have that confidence and it’s showing in our results and our climb out of the bottom two.

“We all know how we want to play at this stage and everyone knows their roles in the team. We are in a really good place right now and hopefully we can keep building on that. 

“Graham has been a massive influence in our upturn in form. He’s the gaffer and he has all the say and all the tactics and he has seen exactly where we needed to improve and it’s a credit to him.”

Lonergan, who had a record transfer bid from Derry City rejected by Waterford recently, will be in FAI Cup action against Athlone Town this weekend.