AFTER TWO YEARS of FAI Cup final pain at the Aviva Stadium, Peamount United finally got their hands on the silverware at Tallaght Stadium yesterday.
Following a slow start, the Dubliners kicked into gear and hit Cork City for six in the second half, completing the domestic double in doing so.
The back-to-back showpiece defeats at the hands of Wexford Youths were well documented coming into this one, several Peamount players predicting that this year’s move to Tallaght and the fact that it was standalone event may work in their favour.
And their beaming manager James O’Callaghan noted that in his post-match media duties when asked what was said before kick-off.
“Play the game, not the occasion,” he stressed. “Stick to the process, try and take the emotion of it, all that. It still doesn’t work, we still came out and were very nervous. It’s a cup final, it probably helped us not having it in the Aviva. More of a low-key event probably suited us.
“You try to blank it out but it kind of does weigh on people’s shoulders at times, having lost the previous two cup finals. Obviously that was evident in the first half. The first half was one of our worst performances I thought all season, and all credit to Cork for making that happen, forcing us into errors and stuff like that. It wasn’t good enough.
“But they were just phenomenal in the second half. The girls have been here before. They’ve been upset, they’ve been devastated with previous cup final defeats. They made it happen. We said, ‘Go and make it happen,’ and in the second half, they did. They got the ball down, they moved it around really well. They got the goal and it just followed from there, the experience really kicked in.”
It certainly was a game of two halves, the nerves and the wet surface clearly affecting the champions early on as they over-complicated things and overhit the ball.
But Stephanie Roche stepped up to lead the charge, bagging her first goal just a minute after the restart before following up with a second as she was involved in all Peamount did well.
Captain Áine O’Gorman, who “had a phenomenal game,” Karen Duggan and super substitute duo Becky Watkins and Tiegan Ruddy all joined Roche on the scoresheet, with O’Callaghan — whose own daughter Lauryn excelled at full-back — delighted for one and all.
Explaining the flexibility of his team and tactical decisions on the line, the manager had high praise for comeback heroes Roche and Ruddy in particular, both having struggled with injury of late and the latter just returning from an ACL setback.
“I was delighted for Steph, she’s been injured a lot, she’s been in and out type of thing. It was a bit of a comeback here for here tonight, getting the goal which was great for her.
“Tiegan, she’s been working away in the background all season, recovering for her injury. I’m delighted for her to come on, she got a goal straight away so she’ll be really happy with that.”
While disappointed that family members couldn’t attend to share the win with them, O’Callaghan noted that this success meant as much, if not more, than in normal times.
“We’re absolutely delighted to win the double especially the season that’s been in it.
“We’ve lost two cup finals already and we’ve lost other competitions. 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, and finally win the cup. It’s amazing.
“It’s great for the club that we’re after winning. We can bring the cup back to Peamount because there’s a lot of people working in the background, it’s phenomenal work they’re doing to make the team as good as it is today.”
And now, it’s all about retaining the silverware and maintaining their dominance in Irish women’s football, with 2021 just around the corner.
“Obviously players are going to come and go now, it happens every season,” O’Callaghan concluded. “It’s probably the last time that squad will be together like that.
“We’ll have one or two lemonades tonight, we’ll take a break for Christmas and then we’ll start looking at next season.”
