Amber Barrett relieved to score first goals since historic Scotland strike

Two goals for the Donegal woman helped the Republic of Ireland to a 3-2 warm-up win against Zambia in Tallaght and ended an eight-month drought for a player who had endured a torrid second-half to the season.

Thu, 22 Jun, 2023 - 22:45

Brendan O'Brien

Amber Barrett opened up to an overwhelming sense of relief after scoring for the first time since the iconic playoff strike at Hampden Park that secured her country’s place at the upcoming World Cup.

Two goals for the Donegal woman, the first from a penalty, helped the Republic of Ireland to a 3-2 warm-up win against Zambia in Tallaght and ended an eight-month drought for a player who had endured a torrid second-half to the season.

Sidelined for much of the campaign by new Turbine Potsdam coach Marco Gebhardt, she played as a defender as much as a striker on the rare occasions she did make the pitch, and has since secured a move to Belgian side Standard Liege next term.

A half-time substitute here, she made the most of her opportunity by slotting home a penalty shortly after the restart before providing a finish high to the net with her weaker left foot from a half-cleared corner midway through the half.

“That’s the first time I’ve scored for club or country since Scotland,” she confirmed afterwards. “For any striker that is a long time to go without a goal but, honestly, the relief when the penalty happened is something I can’t describe.

“It’s funny, you put so much pressure on yourself to score and when it goes in the pressure comes off and you can just go back and refocus on the next task.

Barrett paid tribute to teammate Megan Connolly who gave up the opportunity to score from the spot so that the striker could out a difficult period on the pitch behind her and the cool finish was actually her first touch of the ball.

“It’s funny because with Turbine we played Duisburg away and I came on at half-time and my first touch was a penalty but I missed it. And the manager said, if you ever come on the pitch your first touch should not be a penalty. So that’s a shout-out to him.”

Tongue firmly in cheek there.

The second came after Ciara Grant headed a poor punch from the Zambian goalkeeper into her path. Barrett saw the keeper off her line but the fact that she even swung that left leg at the ball was reflective of the boost that the opener had given her.

“You score one and you just back yourself to score again. There were a couple of chances that came with my left foot that I could have done better with, but I might not have got any of them a few weeks ago because of confidence. It’s funny, the feeling comes back to you and it’s such a glorious feeling when it comes back.”

Barrett was among five players to come off the bench during the break and after a difficult first-half for the home side that was reflective of the high stakes involved for individuals were mindful of how the squad will be shaved to 23 on Thursday.

She knew she had a case to strengthen but so did others.

“Yeah, of course, that’s every single player there, it’s not just me. It wasn’t just ‘oh, if you don’t do well tonight then that’s you out’. It wasn’t the case. We have had two really good weeks of training and the first half was probably a wee bit difficult because we weren’t in it as much as we took control in the second-half.

“I just have to do my job as best I can and hopefully than it looks after itself. I still think Vera has a busy few days ahead of her as she tries to pick the squad and nobody in our team is taking everything for granted. Everyone is keeping their fingers and toes crossed for Thursday.”