*Joint captain of the St Joseph’s Spanish Point ladies football team, Kayla Darcy. Photograph: John Sheridan
SPURRED on by the heartache of successive semi-final defeats, St Joseph’s Spanish Point led by joint captain Kayla Darcy are determined to grab their shot at All-Ireland glory.
Kayla had the assist with a long-range delivery for Allisha Ryan’s dramatic last-gasp goal in extra time for Spanish Point to pip Moate Community School in the semi-final and now they stand sixty minutes from All-Ireland glory.
Reaching the big day is testament to the hard work that has gone into ladies football in the school over the last three years particularly, Kayla felt. “It is amazing to get here, to be involved the last two years and getting to All-Ireland semi-finals but then falling short at the last hurdle to miss out on the final so getting here is great. We’ve been putting in the work since September, getting up early, weekend trainings during Mid-Term breaks, the work has been put in, we didn’t get here because nothing happened, we actually put in the work so it has been tough but it’s been worth it”.
These hard yards include training sessions before school and during the holidays. “We can be little bit tired in school after the early morning sessions, there is a lot going on but it is good to get it out of the way and have everyone focused for the rest of the day, we get treated very well, we get protein shakes and protein balls after training but no less homework”.
She said they were spurred on back to back losses at the semi-final stage to reach the big day. “The semi-final defeats did spur us on a lot. We didn’t want to be in the same position that we were the last two years, we really didn’t want to be there, we were lucky enough with a goal in the last minute to get over the line in extra time, the semi-final defeats really did drive us on to win in extra time and we really wanted it this year and to not experience the pain of losing in a semi-final”.
A starting member of the school’s senior side for the past three seasons, Kayla has gone from a substitute during her Junior Certificate year to now joint captain as St Joseph’s go in search of a historic victory. “I’m one of the oldest ones,” she remarked of her role within the panel. “I’m the joint captain with Aoibheann, we’ve been trying to drive on the younger players because we’ve been there the last two years, we know the younger players need support and we’ve been trying to give them that”.
St Joseph’s know they must keep fighting until the final whistle and that is a message preached by coach Eimear Considine, Darcy outlined. “Eimear Considine is always saying ‘it is never over until it is actually over’ and to keep fighting, we do drills in training, they might seem like silly drills but they actually work to show the younger players it is not over until it is over”.
Darcy who turns eighteen in May comes from plenty of football pedigree with her uncle Evan a nine-time Clare SFC winner with Kilmurry Ibrickane and one of the most respected coaches in the county. “We’d be a strong football family, my uncle Evan played with Kilmurry Ibrickane for years, my grandfather is a big football fan too,” she explained.
Wing forward on the Kilmurry Ibrickane side which won a first-ever Clare LGFA senior championship when beating Doora/Barefield 3-8 1-10 in October 2024, Kayla said the exposure of playing adult football has stood to her game. “It is very helpful when it comes to strengthening up and playing with older and more experienced players”.
Balancing school along with football commitments both for St Joseph’s, Kilmurry Ibrickane and Clare is not easy, she admitted. “It is very tough to juggle everything, I was playing camogie for a while with Kilmaley which was tough to juggle everything and I’ve Leaving Cert this year”.
Health and fitness management at the University of Limerick is among the courses to catch her eye for next year with Darcy of the mantra that you must “do what you love” when it comes to work.
Excitement levels are building ahead of Thursday’s showdown with Our Ladys & St. Patricks Knock from Antrim. “I like the build-up to a match and everyone talking about it, it is good to have your own peace of mind and shut it all out, you don’t want to be too riled up but I’m excited to get the game played”.
