Donoughmore footballers are emerging from the shadows

After so many years of underachieving, last year was seen as a big step forward for Donoughmore.

They reached the last four of the Ross Oil Muskerry JAFC where they lost narrowly to Aghinagh. That came after winning the EPH Controls Mid-Cork Division 1 Football League earlier in the campaign.

Despite those big strides being made, Mossie Barrett stepped down as manager with Aghabullogue clubman Danny Buckley the new coach.

He knows what this grade is all about after guiding Aghinagh to their first ever divisional crown in 2021. His last role was managing the Muskerry Premier Senior footballers. He left that position at the end of the 2023 season.

“Once I sat down with Donoughmore, they painted a good picture of what they wanted to achieve,” Buckley says.

“The Juniors have a young team and it’s something I like doing, working and developing young players. I would still consider myself a young coach and the more you go on, the more you learn. 

"I also think the new rules were enticing me to come back. It’s more open football now. Under the old rules, things were a bit stagnant to be honest.

“Donoughmore are a big club in Muskerry and it’s an honour to be coaching their football team and I am enjoying it up here. Hopefully we will have a positive year ahead.” 

Buckley does see similarities with his old club Aghinagh and his new club Donoughmore. Both teams with potential. Both clubs are fancied to go a long way in this year’s championship.

“It’s 2011 since Donoughmore last won the Mid-Cork,” he said.

“For a club like Donoughmore, that’s just a little bit too long of a gap. From my point of view, there’s a lot of talent within the squad. It’s up to us now to try and bring it all together and see what kind of show we can get on the road and see where it takes us.

“I am lucky that I have come into the role with a good foundation already in place put in by Mossie Barrett. It’s still relatively early days, but from my time with Aghinagh, I can see resemblances in both teams.

“I had a great spell with Aghinagh and what we did in 2021 was historic and it was all down to the players and sheer hard work. They will be the favourites for the Mid-Cork this year and rightly so. From Donoughmore’s point of view, we are trying to get up to that level. The lads had a good year in 2024 and it’s all about building on that.

“We have to prove we can go again, making one semi-final won’t cut it. We have to be getting to the business end on a regular basis to be giving ourselves a chance.” 

In the Ross Oil Muskerry JAFC group stage this year, the team in black and white will take on Ballincollig’s second team, Dripsey and Blarney with the top two qualifying.

Before that, Donoughmore will be looking to retain their EPH Controls Muskerry Division 1 Football League title.

“The season is going quite well so far. Obviously Donoughmore are a dual club, same as my own club Aghabullogue. It’s every second week, but it’s working away seamlessly enough. The league has started positively, but we aren’t getting carried away. We know that we need to hit the ground running when the championship comes around.

"Our aim is to try and finish in one of the top two spots. If we can’t get out of the group then that’s on us.” Buckley concluded.