Harambee Stars prospect Wilson Waweru has been voted the July Soccer Writers Ireland Player of the Month.Waweru, who plies his trade at Sligo Rovers, was on fire, as he found the back of the net five times in the month.The 23-year-old began the month with a goal against Shelbourne before adding another one to his tally in their tie against Galway United.His best moment of the month was when he bagged a hat-trick against Cobh Wanderers in the FAI Sports Direct Cup.##NAJAVA_MECA_8284171##During the month, Sligo won all four of their matches, a run which saw them climb as high as fourth in the Premier Division and progress in the FAI Cup.Waweru’s rich scoring form in the month saw him shortlisted for the award alongside his teammate Ollie Denham and four others.The former Galway United striker won the vote of panellists, narrowly holding off Denham, who finished second in the poll. Drogheda United striker Douglas James-Taylor came in third.Michael Olunga on whether he will become a coach after retirementHe and Denham were the fourth and fifth Sligo players to be nominated for POTM this season, after Mata, Simon Power, and Ed McGinty.Waweru is the first Sligo player to win the award in two years, with Aidan Keena having claimed the prize in July 2022.Reacting after bagging the award, Waweru attributed it to the hard work he had been putting in training.“It’s a great achievement for me to get (the first) proper award I’ve ever gotten in my career, especially since I was in the Premier Division, so it’s just a great achievement for me,” he said in an interview with RTE News.Why National Super League top scorer ditched Kenya for greener pastures in Tanzania”It just comes down to training, it starts on the training ground. You keep banging in goals in training, and when it comes to matchday, you just bring it onto the pitch, and it will just flow like that, week in and week out. You just have to get your head screwed on in training and then that will flow into the match,” he added.The 23-year-old joined the Bit O’ Red from Galway United at the start of the year but had to bide his time before making his first-team breakthrough.
