Ballymartle are proud of Donnacha Desmond as he makes history

BALLYMARTLE might be better known as a hurling club, but one of their dual stars made history nine days ago, when Donnacha Desmond was introduced in the second-half of the Cork senior footballers win over Waterford in the McGrath Cup in Mallow.

The young player is the first from Ballymartle to play for the Rebels senior football team.

Despite not featuring for the Cork minor or U20 footballers, Desmond, who turns 21 this year, has impressed Rebels boss John Cleary and his management team in pre-season training and got a run for the final eight minutes in the 1-20 to 0-6 victory over the Déise. It might have only been a fleeting appearance, but the young player looked lively, and played a part in a couple of late scores. He certainly did himself no harm whatsoever.

Ballymartle chairperson Don Lordan has expressed his delight at Desmond making his competitive debut for the Cork senior footballers nine days ago.

“It’s a huge honour for a player to play for any Cork team,” he said.

“From Donnacha’s point of view, it’s a fantastic achievement for him, the biggest day in his career so far. We are predominantly a hurling club, so to have a player come on for the Cork senior football team is absolutely fantastic. We are just over the moon to see how far he has come in a relatively short period of time. He's a very good player at both codes and such a lovely guy off the pitch. He deserves everything he gets.

“Donnacha has a bright future in both codes. He’s one of those classy players by looking at him, you would just know he has it. From my position, I have been lucky enough to have seen Donnacha come up through the underage ranks in Ballymartle, he’s the same age as my son. I can remember when he was seven or eight playing football and he just stood out.” 

Ballymartle have made huge progress in the development of football over the past two decades, and when number 26 Donnacha Desmond appeared on the Mallow turf for the Cork senior footballers, the fruits of the club's labour was evident.

“As everyone knows now it’s very hard to retain players with lads leaving the country, but when you put in the hard work and you get the benefits of the work, it makes it all worthwhile,” Lordan says.

“Huge credit must go to all of his coaches all the way up in Ballymartle and Donnacha himself for his resilience and sticking with it through adversity. He had to deal with disappointments, not making the Cork minor and U20 football teams, but he kept his head down and worked very hard. The club has put a lot of emphasis on the promotion of both codes, and we are making progress in football, despite people might knowing us as a hurling club.

“We won the Carrigdhoun JAFC in 2018 and were beaten in the 2019 and 2020 deciders. We have a young team and hopefully we can kick on and with Donnacha making his appearance for the Cork senior footballers, it will give all the young kids great hope in the club.” 

It just shows that Cork manager John Cleary isn’t concerned about picking players regardless of the level their playing at. Ballymartle play in the sixth grade of Cork football, but if you play well, and you're good enough, you will get an opportunity.

“I am not sure what Cork’s plans are with Donnacha for the rest of this season, but he has a bright future and just coming on against Waterford was a great achievement. Everyone in the club is so proud of him. It’s clear that the Cork management are getting out to a lot of games.” Lordan concluded.