Monthly award for Yvonne Tracy

International soccer player Yvonne Tracy has scooped The Irish Times/Irish Sports Council 'Sportswoman of the Month' for October.

The award is in recognition for exceptional play in a World Cup qualifier lasr month against Kazakhstan where she scored the winning goal. Yvonne will now battle it out with other monthly winners in January 2010 to be named the Sportswoman of the Year.

Tracy, whose career has been hampered by a series of injuries, displayed incredible spirit when she joined the team in from the substitute bench after just 19 minutes against Kazakhstan, and was hand in the 70th minute to seal a 2-1 win for the Irish leading them to secure three precious World Cup qualifying points.

Speaking following her win Yvonne said: 'I'm delighted to receive this award. Obviously getting the three points was very important for the team, but scoring the goal meant a lot to me.

It has been a long, long road to recovery, but it is exciting to return to the pitch and a match-winning goal is a fantastic boost”

This return to form marks an upturn for the Arsenal footballer, who has suffered a number of injuries, which would have ended the career of many players. She suffered a cruciate ligament injury while playing a league match for Arsenal in 2006 which caused her to miss over a year’s football with club and country.

When she returned to the game, she was injured once again, with a related knee injury keeping her out of action for most of last season. Yvonne has been playing with Arsenal for nine years joining them in 2000 having previously played for St. Patrick's and Lifford.