Harry Wood wins Player of the Month
LEEDS-born Harry Wood, Shelbourne’s attacking midfielder, has been named the SSE Airtricity/Soccer Writers Ireland Player of the Month for August after a nationwide poll among the SWI membership.
The 23-year-old Englishman topped the voting with six points to spare over runner-up Rory Gaffney of Shamrock Rovers and third placed Mason Melia of St Patrick’s Athletic to claim his first ever monthly award.
“It’s a first for me and it’s an award that I will cherish for the rest of my life. It’s a personal award as such and I am relishing my time at Shelbourne. It’s been a season for firsts for me in that I have never played European football before. It’s great for us to have achieved European qualification and I am really looking forward to our Conference campaign,” said Wood.
Shelbourne are currently fourth in the SSE Airtricity Men’s Premier Division table and have an extensive UEFA Conference League programme to look forward to against Hacken, Shkendita, Drita, AZ Alkmaar, Crystal Palace and Celje of Slovenia.
Wood had a stellar month in August when the Tolka Reds won their two-legged play-off with Linfield to progress to the group stages League Phase and he is eagerly looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead this autumn.
“It’s a great experience for us to have the opportunity to play against top quality opposition. We have to make the most of it because it might not come around again even though that’s a target for us this season. We will give every team we play the respect they deserve that’s for sure,” he added.
The Shels’ No.7 started his youth career at the academies of both Manchester United and Hull City and also had loan spells with Scunthorpe United and Grimsby Town before he joined the Dubliners on a permanent, two-and-a-half-year contract last July.
“Our league season is all about consistency at this stage and we need to keep building on our performances. It’s a case of keep the momentum going now to the end of the league campaign,” he added.
A first team regular with Joey O’Brien’s side – Wood scored the winning goal away to Derry City on the last day of last season as Shelbourne won the league title for the first time since 2006 with Irish centurion, Damien Duff in the hot seat.
Wood has won league and Presidents’ Cup winners’ medals so far, but Shels’ were knocked out of the Sports Direct Men’s FAI Cup at the third round stage by rivals St Pat’s at Richmond Park last month.
