Roche thrilled to help propel Peas’ to Cup
By Daire Walsh
THEY say all’s well that ends well and that certainly holds true for Peamount United striker Stephanie Roche who was thrilled to round off an injury-disrupted campaign on a high note in Tallaght Stadium on Saturday.
Now enjoying her second stint with the Newcastle club, the Republic of Ireland international contributed a brace of goals at the beginning of the second half as James O’Callaghan’s side completed a domestic double with an emphatic 6-0 triumph over Cork City in the FAI Women’s Cup final.
“It’s been a bit of a slow burner of a season for me. I’ve been in and out with little niggles, the cracked rib and stuff like that so I was just happy to get a little run of games coming into the final,” a jubilant Roche remarked after the game.
“I’m confident in my own ability. I’m already looking forward to next season and getting going properly.”
Following a six-year spell away from the club – during which time she lined out in the French, US, English and Italian leagues – Roche returned to Peamount for what proved to be a truncated campaign.
In addition to last weekend’s Cup triumph, she also added a second WNL crown in recent weeks to make it a memorable comeback to Irish club soccer.
“Peamount have always been a very good club in Ireland, even when I played here before.
“We’ve still got some really good people. You can see, all the players want to win it for the staff and the staff want us to win it for people behind the scenes.
“I love Peamount. I’ve always been very welcome here, when Eileen [Gleeson] was here in the past and obviously now as well.
“I’m just happy to be playing football with a smile on my face again. It’s important for every player.”
It was perhaps fitting that Aine O’Gorman was the player to lift the silverware on Saturday, given she is the sole survivor from their previous Cup final victory in 2010.
Back then she was sharing a dressing room with boxing legend Katie Taylor, albeit she didn’t feature in the decider against Salthill Devon.
An O’Gorman hat-trick helped Peamount to get over the line 10 years ago and while she was glad to find the net in their latest showpiece win – in advance of late strikes by Karen Duggan, Rebecca Watkins and Tiegan Ruddy – the fact the Greenogue outfit found themselves on the winner’s podium was more than enough for her.
“It’s always nice to score and get your name on the scoresheet, but once we win that’s the main thing. I don’t think I touched the ball by the time Steph scored, maybe even the second goal! I was just chilling out on the wing.
“Just delighted that the team won and we were able to enjoy the experience.”
Despite what the final scoreline may suggest, a Peamount triumph wasn’t always a foregone conclusion.
They had struggled to break down a stern City defence in the opening period and it wasn’t until Roche’s quickfire third-quarter efforts that the floodgates truly opened.
“I think it was a game of two halves. It took us a while to settle into the game. It was a typical cup final day. They [Cork] really came out of the gates and defended well in the first half.
“We scored so early in the second half, it settled us and we could get our passing game and our combinations going,” O’Gorman added.
In seeing off the challenge of the Leesiders, Peamount banished the heartbreak of their final defeats in the past two years to Wexford Youths at the Aviva Stadium.
Their manager James O’Callaghan felt those agonising one-goal defeats were in the back of the players’ minds early on, but praised his squad for ultimately overcoming this mental obstacle.
“You try to blank it out but it does weigh on people’s shoulders at times, having lost the previous two cup finals. Obviously that was evident in the first half, they were a bit nervous and stuff. In the second half, they were amazing,” O’Callaghan said.
“The girls have been resilient all year. They’re really hungry for their football, they love their football so I’m just delighted for them to get the double.”