Craig Donnellan on his battle with injury and all-Cork FAI Intermediate Cup final

Scoring the final penalty to send his side into this year's FAI Intermediate Cup was a great feeling for midfielder Craig Donnellan.

The 28-year-old College Corinthians player had only recently returned from a year-long injury and to think that he is now preparing for a National Cup final feels surreal. He's really looking forward to the main event next season.

Here he tells us about his injury, his hard work to get back and how he believes his side have peaked at the right time.

“I tore my MCL in February 2024 against Avondale, and as there’s no operation for MCL tears, it was just all rehab work for the year,” said Donnellan. 

"I’ve a great physio in Joe Normoyle who got me back from an ACL injury seven years ago and we’ve Eoghan Walsh with us who’s our massage therapist so I started with them straight away and I also worked with Eoghan Lougheed three times a week doing PT and strength work for it so it’s been a busy year.

I’ve been back training with the team properly since January, it had been almost a year out with my injury so I’m delighted to be back. 

"The semi-final against Douglas Hall was only my third competitive game back but in fairness to Gary Hackett he organised a number of friendlies that I was able to get minutes in to get my fitness back which I appreciated.” 

TOUGH TEST

Coming back from injury can be a tough test for many players however Donnellan believes a little time out, and his job as a coach helped him to get through a difficult time.

“I own Cork PDA with Joe Gamble so running a business you don’t have time to sit around and feel sorry for yourself, and in fairness to Joe and our coaches involved with us they all stepped up as I wasn’t able to coach for two to three months after the injury.

I missed it a lot but sometimes a bit of time away from football makes you really appreciate it more." 

Speaking about the semi-final, Donnellan felt his side produced one of their best performances.

“We knew it was going to be a tough game, it always is in a local rivalry and we knew Douglas Hall were a good team especially at home. We were disappointed in throwing away a two-goal lead but at the end of the day we got through and that’s all that matters." 

Donnellan stood up to take the final penalty which if converted would see his side advance to the final against local side Ringmahon.

“My legs were gone after the game so I was just concentrating on hitting the target. When it went in, it was just a great feeling. 

"We now have a few weeks to prepare for the final, which is a massive help to me personally to get more game time. "We expect a tough game which I imagine will be a great game for the neutral.

“We are going into the game full of confidence, we know we will be the underdogs going into it for everyone outside our group but I think we are only really getting going now. 

"We had a lot of injuries at the start of the season and I think people will see what we are really like from now until the end of the season. I do believe we have peaked at the right time and I imagine we will just get stronger over the next few weeks.

“It’s great to have two Cork teams in the final and to have three Cork teams in the semi-finals just shows how strong the league is after getting."

Having the final in Turner's Cross is massive for Cork football and I’ve no doubt there’ll be a huge crowd at it.

“We’ve had a poor run in the league and we know we’re too far behind now to catch the teams up the top, so the only way for us to consider this year successful would be by winning the final. Here’s hoping.”