Graham Burke has been named the SSE Airtricity/Soccer Writers’ Association of Ireland Player of the Month for March for the first time.
The Shamrock Rovers attacker's bark was as bad as his bite as he fired in an impressive six goals including four against Derry City, the winner against Limerick and a stunner in a defeat away to Waterford.
Burke admits it was not a perfect start to the season for Stephen Bradley’s men but he believes they have started to turn things around.
"It’s my first award so I’m delighted. I scored six goals over the month so it was a good return for me personally and I’m thrilled to get this.
"Overall, it’s been a bit up and down for us so far this season. We had a slow start but we’ve been on a good run of form since bar one or two results."
He knows that the Tallaght club need to start proving themselves against the leading lights in the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division.
"We haven’t really been winning the games against the teams around us, games we’ve needed to win, and that has been the most disappointing thing. But we’ll see those teams again this season so we’ll have a chance to put those results right."
Burke feels Rovers should be aiming to win every trophy they compete for this year.
"I have a few personal targets in my mind but I’ll keep them to myself. As a team, we want to win everything we can. That’s the ambition and that’s what we’ll try to do. Obviously we want to win the league and everything else. It’s about doing the best we can."
In winning the award, Burke fended off competition from Dundalk goalkeeper Gary Rogers, who finished second in the voting. Waterford striker Courtney Duffus was third.
