Cup final hero Stephanie Roche eyes more domestic gains

Ireland's most famous home-based player hopes WNL can take another step forward

The Peamount team celebrate with the trophy after the game. Picture: ©INPHO/Tommy Dickson

It wasn’t long after her FAI Cup final heroics on Saturday that Stephanie Roche began to empty her brain on the frustrations of striving for professionalism in Ireland.

Roche is arguably the most high-profile women’s player to come from these shores and is well placed to offer a critique.

She attracted world attention six years ago, including the eyes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, for volleying a strike which almost earned her Fifa’s goal of the year.

Two years on from sharing the Zurich auditorium with the globe’s finest footballers, the smiles gave way to sadness for a strike of a different kind.

Roche cut a sombre figure in Liberty Hall, standing behind captain Emma Byrne unspooling a litany of shoddy practices the squad had been subjected to by John Delaney’s organisation.

Her career has continued to be mixed, firstly moving to France following her golden moment and on to the United States, England, Italy and finally back to Peamount this year.

At 31, the Dubliner has long been planning beyond the precarious career of a woman’s footballer but showed she’s not done on the pitch with two first-time finishes to ignite the biggest occasion of the year at Tallaght Stadium.

Cork City had succeeded in stymying Roche and her Peas sharpshooters at Tallaght Stadium until 50 seconds into the second half.

Then, one sight at goal made the difference, her left foot shot on the turn carrying too much power for Maria O’Sullivan. Six minutes later, another incisive strike found the same location.

Peamount’s Stephanie Roche celebrates scoring a goal. Picture: INPHO/Tommy Dickson

Although Christina Dring squandered City’s best chance of the final approaching the hour by firing wide, Peas continued to pulverise in pursuit of a first Cup in a decade.

Roche slipped in her Ireland team-mate and childhood friend Áine O’Gorman for a third with 14 minutes left before a late blitz of goals from Karen Duggan and subs Becky Watkins and Tiegen Ruddy made the scoreline more one-sided than the game reflected.

“It was great to score the goals but I can still improve for next season,” said a modest Roche after her side delivered the double.

“It has been the most stop-start season of my career, between cracking my ribs earlier in the season in Cork and picking up niggles like a calf injury. Playing the last two games in the run-up to the final helped me get match-fit and sharp.” 

Roche’s inconsistency cost her a place in Vera Pauw’s Ireland squad towards the end of a European Championship qualifying campaign they ultimately came up short in earlier this month.

The attacker’s first involvement with Ireland stretches back to the closest time they came to reaching a major tournament in 2008.

However, that the country hasn’t replicated, never mind exceeded, that play-off against Iceland rankles with Roche.

For all the strides some exports in the squad have since made, like herself, the neglect of the domestic game continues to hamper the depth of the panel. In her view, time for action is well overdue.

“It wasn’t working out for me in Italy, so I wanted to come home and enjoy my football,” she says of her latest move earlier this year.

“I played in the first season of the national league back in 2011 and I’m playing this season. Look, it hasn’t got any worse but has it got better? I don’t know.

For the young players, there has to be an emphasis on improving the league. They (the FAI) need to make sure it’s not just the status quo, kind of ‘the girls are doing great and keep going’

“Vera had 16 and 17-year-olds on the bench against Germany a few weeks ago. You can’t send those to England now because it’s not like the men’s game where they can earn hundreds of thousands of euros.

“For me, we’ve to do better personally but we also need the help to be able to do it.” 

At a time when the FAI’s debts are rising, major investment is a non-starter. Still, Roche believes small measures will suffice for now.

“The biggest difficulty for myself coming back was switching from a professional environment to training two nights per week,” she reasons.

FAI Women's Senior Cup Final, Tallaght Stadium, Peamount’s Stephanie Roche celebrates scoring her second goal with teammates. Picture: INPHO/Tommy Dickson

“I have my own personal trainer but if the FAI give the girls an extra session per week in a home-based camp, it would not only benefit the international players but the league overall.” 

Cork are also seeking improvements. Stacked with teenage talent, keeping the squad intact will be the first priority to build on an encouraging season. They can’t be judged when up against a side of Peamount’s experience and nous. Manager Rónán Collins will be seeking to maintain their trajectory when they reassemble early in the new year for the 2021 campaign.

“It’s tough after Saturday but we went out with a brave game-plan. It worked in the first half but it was a big ask for young players to replicate that in the second.

“But that’s our DNA and we’ll stick with it. It’s something we’re proud of and we’ve got to really kick on now.

“We have had eight seasons in a row of higher points per game and we finished fourth in the table.

We’re lucky to be part of a strong community club. They set standards in terms of improving the game and followed through on it.

CORK CITY: M O’Sullivan; Z Foley, C McNamara (L Walsh 82), D Burke, N O’Brien (S McCarthy 82); B Cassin, E O’Mahony; S Liston (N Seward 82), C Dring (L Shine 71), S Noonan; L Egbuloniu (K McCarthy 57).

PEAMOUNT UTD: N Reid-Burke; L O’Callaghan, N Farrelly (D Doherty 84), C Walsh, D Beirne (S Doyle 79); L McCartan, K Duggan; Á O’Gorman, E Ryan-Doyle (B Watkins 79), A McEvoy (M Smyth-Lynch 69); S Roche (T Ruddy 84).

Referee: Claire Purcell (Waterford).