Deirdre Duke: 'We are repaying the fans for a lot of years in the dark'

Ireland’s Hannah McLoughlin, Deirdre Duke and Kathryn Mullan celebrate after the game.

Judging by the texts and messages flooding into the Ireland women’s camp, the feelgood factor generated by their run to the Women’s World Cup final is rearing its head nearly six years on.

The weather is unseasonably warm, there is Green Army support aplenty and Ireland will aim to beat Spain today in the Olympic qualifying semi-finals for the first time since their memorable last four shoot-out success at the World Cup in London.

“It really is incredible and it really does feel like a home crowd. We have an incredible amount of support and the numbers seem to be rising,” said Deirdre Duke.

“We are getting texts from people flying over for the game and the numbers could double. They have been on a journey with us for many years, well before anyone was at our games. We are repaying a lot of years in the dark I suppose.” 

Victory in Valencia against a team they know more than most in recent years will also ensure a Paris berth. Since Duke made her debut in 2015, Ireland have faced Spain 25 times, with seven victories. “Nearly half my caps could be against Spain,” quipped the 171-capped Dubliner.

She also realises the similarities with the World Cup, even if that is “old news”. The 31-year-old added: “There is a certain kind of feel to it. The numbers of fans are rising but it doesn’t really change what we do or how we approach the game. If there was nobody there we would put out a similar performance. But it adds that extra oomph when you hear the crowd and you see familiar faces, coaches or those we played with over the years.” 

“Both Spain and us developed at similar times and breaking into the top 10. They have been a big part of our journey I suppose. It adds that little bit to the match and we know we are capable of putting them away having played them so many times. They are a very good outfit, but there is nothing to fear in that Spanish squad.” 

Duke scored twice in Ireland’s three unbeaten group games. In their 3-1 win over Korea she was flinging herself in the D and relished the end-to-end, counter-attacking nature of their performance. “You have to do what you can, unfortunately the throwing about didn’t come off but once you put in the mix it’s half the battle,” she added.

Duke is the sole ‘legal head’ remaining in the current squad, with five lawyers forming part of the 2018 World Cup team. She works for a corporate lawyer firm in Dublin and is a few weeks away from qualifying as a fully-fledged solicitor.

She said: “Hopefully if we take care of business over the coming days I will be back to finish off my last few months as a trainee and stay with my firm. They have been supportive of me and hopefully that’s where I will be with an Olympics to play in the middle of it all.” 

Spain v Ireland: 11:30am, live on RTÉ News and the RTÉ Player