Extratime.ie Team of the Month - April

Extratime.ie is delighted to announce the winners of the Player/Manager/Team of the Month Awards for April. After hours of deliberation amongst the team, we have come up with our best starting XI for the month for April as well as our Player and Manager of the Month.

The Awards span both divisions, Premier and First, and also include performances in the EA Sports Cup, FAI Cup and Setanta Sports Cup. Here is our selection and our reasons behind them.

Feel free to share your opinions on the selection either below in the Comments section or on our Twitter feed by tweeting @ExtratimeNews. 

EXTRATIME.ie TEAM OF THE MONTH - April

GOALKEEPER

Barry Ryan (Limerick FC)

Although they sit third from bottom after nine matches played, there are still quite a number of positives for fans of Limerick FC to take home from the first two months of fixtures. First of all, they possess the third best overall defence in the league alongside Derry City, having conceded just nine goals to date. The reason? Sitting behind quite a composed back four, as their last line of defence, has been the instinctual Barry Ryan. And in truth he has proven himself to be an absolute rock in between the sticks for the Munster club. Stepping up the ante following a number of bright displays in March, his agile responses and acrobatic saves were pivotal against a resurgent UCD side as well as during the clean sheet he picked up against Bohemians.

DEFENDERS

Sean Gannon (Dundalk FC)

Notching up three clean sheets throughout April, 22 year-old Sean Gannon has been instrumental to the Lilywhites rise to third in the league table, and he's built upon his early season promise. With the joint-third best home defensive record in the league, it's clear they've set Oriel Park up into a nice fortress for themselves – although they'll need more than good home form to run the title so close for a second season running. But so far, Gannon has been solid at the back and, along with his defensive compatriots, he has been the platform for a number of creative counter-attacks.

Kevin O' Connor (Waterford United)

Naturally a midfielder by choice, Kevin O' Connor has been faced with an onerous task to try and adapt to his new role as a full-back in recent times as the First Division's Waterford go in search of a promotion-clinching year. With experience already under his belt with the Colleges FAI side, 18-year-old O' Connor is already on the fast-track to getting himself noticed, and his performances in the Blue and White of the Munster unit have certainly helped. Overall, he's shown excellent flexibility and adaptability in his new role as he's effectively melded Waterford's solid defending (they conceded zero goals all month) with his marauding runs to add an extra element of danger and unpredictability into the mix. 'More of the same, please', the fans will rightly intone.

Darren Dennehy (Cork City)

Eleven team points, two clean sheets and a goal for the Cork City defender is not a bad monthly haul. And although he received a red card for his trouble in the narrow 1-0 win over UCD, he has proven himself quite capable since the start of the season along with his brother, Billy. No doubt, the former Everton youth product will be hoping his season isn't once more plagued by injury so that he can help his side claim their first Premier Division title since 2005.

Alan Keane (Sligo Rovers)

A vast improvement in fortunes for Sligo Rovers over the course of the past month means that they've gone from having lost four matches in the month of March to winning four in April. And a vital cog in their efforts in bringing that winning feeling has been former Galway United legend Alan Keane. Primarily a full-back, Keane can also play as a central defender, but he often grabs the headlines for his goal-scoring as Sligo's primary spot-kick trustee. Stroking home two goals – one of which was a penalty in their 5-0 thumping of UCD - as well as aiding the Bit O' Red to three consecutive clean sheets towards the tail end of the month emphasizes just how big a part he's played in their rise to just outside the top four. Top notch stuff.

MIDFIELDERS

PLAYER OF THE MONTH - Billy Dennehy (Cork City)

He showed a steeliness beyond compare to dispatch a spot kick in the dying embers of their hard-fought draw against Sligo Rovers in the middle of April after he had already helped his side to a big win over Sligo with yet another goal. And, not to be complacent, the 27-year-old went on to smash home a tremendous free-kick to seal a victory against Drogheda. In fact, he found the net on five separate occasions in April, scoring in each match he started in, not to mention how superlative his delivery from set-pieces has been to date. He'll be keen to push on as his contributions are sure to be key to Cork City's sustained title drive. An outstanding series of displays.

Ronan Finn (Shamrock Rovers)

Having tucked away a trio of strikes throughout April, Ronan Finn remains an integral component of the club. Netting against Drogheda United, Dundalk and UCD (in a match he also hit the woodwork in from a fine long-range bullet), he's looked consistently dangerous and has exhibited great industry on the wing. Having battled through a debilitating injury that affected his performances in the latter stages of last season, the 26-year-old left-midfielder has shown endless heart and fight to give his all – and he continues to give everything on the pitch as his recent performances have shown. Level on points with third-placed Dundalk, the Hoops are sure to need more of the same from Finn in the coming weeks if they are to leap-frog them.

Chris Forrester (St. Patrick's Athletic)

Wayne Rooney, eat your heart out. Chris Forrester scored an absolute wonder-goal this month - arriving in his side's four-goal league victory over Drogheda United, when he smashed a half-volley from over 40-yards out over the back-tracking, helpless 'keeper. However, it isn't just his penchant for the spectacular that he earns a place in this month's Best XI as he also grabbed four other strikes to help his side to four straight league wins as well as guiding them to joint-first in the standings. No doubt, the 21-year-old has the raw ability to make it big across the water, and it seems only a matter of time before he does – especially if he stays in form and keeps tucking away goals for fun. 

Ryan Manning (Galway FC)

There's been a familiar pattern starting to develop in recent weeks at Galway FC, and it revolves around teenage sensation Ryan Manning. In the last month, Galway have only earned points from matches that the Irish U-18 Schools' star has found the net in; and they'll be glad that he's been doing so fairly regularly thus far. In fact, he netted for the Connacht-based outfit against Cobh Ramblers, Wexford Youths and Longford Town respectively to bring his monthly haul up to an impressive three. Already the captain of the Ireland Schools team, he also scored a deserved brace in their 3-1 victory over Scotland. A bright future beckons, but before any bigger clubs come calling, there's a First Division title up for grabs, and Manning has the skills to help them win it.

STRIKERS

Aaron Greene (Sligo Rovers)

The season had started so brightly for Aaron Greene after he found the net in their opening competitive match against Crusaders in the Setanta Cup. But following that, his conversion rate fell off rapidly for the remainder of March. Nevertheless, fans of the Bit O' Red have since seen a massive upturn in his fortunes in recent week and he's now playing with renewed vigour and clinical finishing. Scoring four goals throughout April against the likes of Limerick FC, UCD and St Pat's (a brace in the Setanta Cup), the 24-year-old has become a veritable menace in and around the 18-yard box. Without a shadow of a doubt, he's been central to their six-game unbeaten streak which has seen them go without defeat since their capitulation at the hands of Derry City at the beginning of the month.

Christy Fagan (St. Patrick's Athletic)

An outstanding month of performances from the striker bore witness to five goals as his side lay waste to six teams in total. Alongside Forrester, Fagan has upped his game since the beginning of the new season and has already put himself among the favourites to top the scorers chart at the end of the current campaign – whether or not they win the league remains to be seen. In particular, his performance against Bohemians was the pick of the bunch as he conjured up two goals for himself before providing an assist for Forrester late on in the second half. So far, so good for the Saints frontman.

MANAGER OF THE MONTH

Alan Mathews (Bray Wanderers)

Brought an end to Drogheda United's six-match unbeaten run when they travelled to Hunky Dorys Park towards the start of the month as he infused an intuitive, counter-attacking style in to the Seagulls approach as well as heaping pressure on the hosts with quite a number of well-earned corner kicks. And the win paid huge dividends, not only on the night, but in the following days as the 48-year-old inspired his men to feel confident in their abilities. As a result, they went on to grab their third league win of the season against Dundalk only very recently on a score-line of 1-0. Much like in the game against the Drogs, Bray made good use of free-kicks and corners to put their opponents on the back foot, and that was the source of their goal at the Carlisle Grounds that night. The 48-year-old boss must also take credit for the way he masterminded draws against both Bohemians and Derry City that have helped them step into seventh.