Walters double inspires Stoke in semi win

Two-goal Jon Walters described Stoke City’s 5-0 FA Cup semi-final triumph as the “pinnacle of his career” on Sunday.

The Republic of Ireland international curled home two finishes to put the icing on a five-star performance which swept aside his former club Bolton.

It continued what has been a remarkable story for Walters since he made a 2.75 million pounds move from Championship club Ipswich Town at the start of the season.

“To score two goals at Wembley and crown a win like that is the stuff that dreams are made of and it is certainly the pinnacle of my career,” he commented.

“I just want to keep this run going now and score a few more goals because it has been a remarkable few weeks for the club and we can now finish the season off in style.”

“To start the game like we did and get three goals in the first half hour was absolutely fantastic for us and that really settled any nerves we had.

“We expected Bolton to come at us in the second half because they had nothing to lose so to get the fourth goal really killed off any hope of them coming back.”

While the focus will now be on the May 14 final against Manchester City, Walters stressed that City have to keep their feet firmly on the floor because there is still important work to be done to ensure a fourth season in the Barclays Premier League.

“We have two massive games in the League coming up against Aston Villa and Wolves, so we need to focus on them,” said the striker who now has 11 goals this season.

“We were aware of the history in the cup and obviously we wanted to change that and reach a first FA Cup Final, and thankfully we did that.”

“It was a fantastic day for the fans too. As ever, they were magnificent and you could see what it meant to all of them. They had a great day out.”

“There is still a long way to go but we are confident. It’s the best chance this club has had of winning this trophy and we want make the most of that.”