Phoenix Patterson rises to win Player of the Month

WATERFORD WONDERKID: Phoenix Patterson of Waterford poses for a portrait with his SSE Airtricity / SWI Player of the Month for September 2022 at The RSC in Waterford. Pic: Eóin Noonan/Sportsfile

Phoenix Patterson’s blistering form with First Division Waterford FC has earned him the SSE Airtricity/Soccer Writers Ireland Player of the Month for September.

The forward – a former teammate of Troy Parrott in Tottenham Hotspur’s youth team – was voted the standout player across both the Premier and First divisions last month after notching three goals and an assist to help the Blues into the semi-finals of the FAI Cup and the First Division's promotion playoffs.

His strikes included a stunning effort to knock Dundalk out of the cup in the quarter-finals and two superb free kicks in league wins over Bray Wanderers and Cobh Ramblers.

Patterson's 16-league goals this season currently has him tied for the First Division's top goalscorer, while he has added a further two to his name in the cup competition.

He receives the award, as voted for by SWI members, ahead of Derry City duo Cameron Dummigan and Michael Duffy, who finished second and third respectively.

The attacker, who turned 22 last month, becomes the first Waterford player to claim the Player of the Month award in 18 years - since Daryl Murphy in September 2004.

Despite having only arrived in the League of Ireland in July 2021, this month saw Patterson nominated for the prize for the second time.

"I'm really happy to win it," he said. "It's been a good month for us. We picked up quite a few wins and I'm just happy that my performances were able to help the team get the wins, in the cup and also in the league.

"I set high standards for myself. Coming into this season, I always wanted to get a lot of numbers. I had a taste of the Premier Division last season so coming into this season, I thought if I trained well and took it into the games, I'd be able to get numbers.

"But to get this amount, I'm really happy. Hopefully I can continue this and help the team achieve what we want to achieve come the end of the season.

Patterson is gearing up for this Sunday's FAI Cup semi-final against Shelbourne at the RSC, where Waterford hope to go one further than last season when they reached the last four.

"Performances recently, the team and myself, gives us confidence going into the game," he said. "We know it's going to be a tough game against a team from the Premier Division but as we've seen in the cup - we've played St Pats and Dundalk - we're more than capable of winning the game and that's what we'll try to do."