Echo Women in Sport award: Special season for Glanmire football star Orlaith Roche

SHE may be only 20 but when Orlaith Roche looks back on 2024 it will be a year she will remember for a long time.

The Glanmire ladies footballer played a key part in their run to All-Ireland intermediate glory and it was for her Player of the Game display in the final that she was named The Echo Women in Sport award winner for December.

Orlaith’s early goal in the All-Ireland final was a key score in their win and it put them into a lead they held all through.

It ended the year on a high for the club who have seen their fair share of heartache in recent years and were minutes from more this season.

They had lost three Cork intermediate finals in a row and with time running out in the 2023 decider they were a point down. But two late points secured their win over Naomh Aban and from there the season took off with Munster and All-Ireland title wins also secured.

Orlaith gets plenty of support at home, from her twin brother Aidan to her older sister Aoife and her parents Deirdre and Neil.

Orlaith is currently a student at Mary I in Thurles where she is studying Irish and religion, to become a secondary school teacher.

They are a slightly unusual choice of subjects but Orlaith said she said she always liked the idea of being fluent in our native language.

“So I like that idea and I've always been brought up with religion and I think teaching it will be interesting,” said Orlaith, we’re learning all the time about the many religions that exist and it’s not just about the Catholic church so I am enjoying that.

“I hope to end up teaching here in Cork or possibly Donegal, and at the moment they are looking for Irish teachers in a lot of places so hopefully that will work out.

“My mum is from Donegal so I like it up there as well but their Irish is very different and in some ways, it’s almost like a different language. It’s challenging to learn the different dialects but it’s great to get the chance to do so and my placement in Cavan (where Orlaith currently is for seven weeks) will help with that.”

Orlaith said her family are a huge support to her and that also applies to playing football with Glanmire.

“When I was about five or six my mum brought me down to the club to start playing, She was brought up with Gaelic football and it’s massive where she comes from.

“I have a few memories of playing when I was about five and never stopped playing, nor have I ever thought to stop, I just love it.

“I started in the street leagues with blitzes and stuff and it took off from there.

“We had a great panel when we were underage so from about U14 onwards it started to get serious. We were doing well in Cork competitions and I remember going up to Feile and we were crying when we lost games, but that’s all part of the process of learning at underage level.

“As I said we had a really good team and we are all still friends to this day and some of them were part of the squad with me that won the three titles this year.

“We were lucky enough to win two Feile titles as well as U16 and Cork minor championship titles.”

With Orlaith playing starring roles along the way it didn’t take long for her to come to the attention of the selectors of their adult side.

She recalls making her debut against Clonakilty in Clon, but it didn’t come about as you might think.

“I played my first game when I was U16 against Clonakilty. I had a game in Glanmire with my own team and then the coaches of the adult team came up to me and said we need you to go to Clonakilty now, we're short of players.

“I didn't know any of the senior guys. 

I was like a lost puppy, I was just sitting in the dressing room. But if I think I scored two points or something like that and from then on I was playing with them.”

So Orlaith has been involved now for four or five seasons with the senior side and was there for those heartbreaking Cork final losses.

“Frustrating is how I would describe them, lack of performance in the finals. I don’t know what it was really but it was tough to take.

“We always felt we would win it, we had a good of players and while you never expect it to be easy it was just frustrating every time. Maybe nerves played their part and I think I was probably more nervous this season than any.

“But we had to focus and I was like, we have to win it. We didn’t look beyond the county first and nothing else.”

PRESSURE

A couple of points behind with time running out Orlaith said she was crying on the pitch as she could see it slipping through their fingers again.

“I was crying when there was about five minutes left out of frustration. I was like oh no not again, but thank God we managed to pull ourselves together and come out on top.

“I think I jumped up and down when I scored one point and I was thinking what are you doing! Naomh Abán are a very good side and we knew it wasn’t going to be easy.

“I believe that if they won then they would have gone on to win the Munster and All-Ireland titles as well.

It was a special feeling to win the Cork title and to end the frustration of the previous years. It was a mixture of sheer joy and relief to finally be champions.”

After that, they had good wins to reach the Munster final where they took on Monagea from Limerick.

In a tough game scoring chances were few and far between. Again Glanmire showed their character when they fell behind early in the second half to come out on top by 0-8 to 1-3.

A lot of people were saying that anything after Cork was a bonus for Glanmire and that if they won or lost in Munster they had achieved their ultimate goal of becoming a senior Cork side.

But Orlaith didn’t feel that way: “I wanted to win because I knew once you beat Naomh Aban you're on the right road. I thought we were good enough to win the All-Ireland. I wasn't thinking it was a bonus. I just wanted to go on and win the Munster title first and then concentrate on trying to win the All-Ireland one.

“But you have to forget about the All-Ireland when we were playing the Munster championship as that was what mattered then. So you kind of forget about it and it’s only when you qualify that you think about it then.”

And that they had to do fast as two weeks after the Munster final they had to cross the water to London to take on Tir Chonaill Gaels at McGovern Park, Ruislip , in the All-Ireland quarter-final.

“Getting on a plane to play a game was a new experience for us, but it was a great bonding session, particularly between the older girls and younger girls. I think it was one of the games where we all kind of showed up. It was a tough game in front of a massive home support for them, but it was great for us as a team.”

Success followed in the semi-final and all of a sudden they were Croke Park bound for the final.

“I've always wanted to play in Crow Park so it was a dream come true. After the semi-final, I was thinking about it every single day. I was thinking 'Oh my God' we're going to play at Croke Park.”

FLYING START

Roll on the final and just two minutes in Orlaith found the back of the net to put them in front against Ballinamore Sean O’Heslin’s, a lead they never lost as they went on to win by 5-8 to 1-6.

“I don't know what I was thinking. I just grabbed the ball and said I'll just go for it. It’s not often you get the chance to play there so I just went for it.

“I think the goal helped to settle us and we managed to drive on to win from there. But you can never relax in a game like that and even with 10 minutes or less to go when we looked ok I couldn’t relax.

“When it's a game as big as that there's no relaxing, especially not for me because I've got the nerves of, I don't know what. They were pushing on and then they got the penalty I couldn't even look I was so nervous. But thankfully Ava Carey saved it her dad was behind me and I turned to him and said thank you, Dave.

Then we were counting down to the hooter and it’s just an unbelievable feeling and hard to describe when you win an All-Ireland championship.

“It’s something really special and a memory that you will never forget, with an amazing bunch of people, players, management, and all involved. It was just crazy and to bring back an All-Ireland intermediate title to Glanmire was unreal.”

But Orlaith is far from finished and with junior and intermediate All-Ireland titles won her ultimate ambition is to add a senior one in time to come.

“I have high hopes for us next year and as long as we keep going the way we want and if our coaches stay with us then hopefully we can first win the Cork title.

“Winning the All-Ireland is a great confidence boost for us and hopefully we can do well in the senior championship in 2024. We know that it will be far from easy as there are a lot of good sides in Cork but we are going to give it a right go and see what happens."