Amber Barrett looking forward after 'the hardest six months' she has ever had

"People would say, ‘oh, you scored the goal that got Ireland to the World Cup’, but that didn’t matter to me when I went back to Germany and I was sitting on the bench every week."

LOOKING FORWARD: Amber Barrett during a Republic of Ireland women open training session at UCD Bowl. Photo by Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

Denise O’Sullivan’s through ball. Amber Barrett’s caress of a first touch. The nudge ahead to steady herself. The slide-rule finish into the Scotland net. Eight months on and the goal that sent the Republic of Ireland to the World Cup has been named as the FAI's Goal of the Year. 

Barrett still thinks about it a few times each week. How could she not? She knows how special a moment it was for her and for everyone else, but there is a determination with that to “move on” from the night in Hampden Park and look to the future.