It has been a very productive and eventful season thus far for Galway wing-forward Cyril Donnellan. The Pearses man has been in scintillating form in the past few months and has played a key role in getting the county to the 2012 All-Ireland semi-final.
Unfortunately he has been struggling with a chipped bone in his arm for the past few weeks and must wait until tomorrow night (Friday ) to see if he is picked in the starting 15 to face Cork on Sunday. Not surprisingly, the player is very eager to start inside the whitewash as opposed to sitting in the stand with a sub’s top on.
“I was a bit disappointed when the injury happened first, and for a few days you would be wondering if it was going to rule you out. However once the doctor gave me a bit of hope I started doing all I could and hopefully I will be OK to start on Sunday. It is grand now and has been improving nicely. I haven’t done too much contact work, but I have done a lot of ball work by myself and I am happy with how it has progressed. With the competition for places in the panel so hot, it is not a good idea to miss too much training. I am available for selection and I hope to be on the team when it is announced.”
Donnellan has a primary degree in civil engineering and he is back in college doing an 18-month higher diploma in education at the moment. Away from his studies he is pleased with how the year has been progressing on the hurling front.
“Things have been going very well for the entire panel and we have been building all year for a good run in the championship. The mood is good in the squad and training has been going well. Once we won Leinster our focus switched immediately to going as far as we could in the All-Ireland series.
“Galway have not been great in the past carrying the favourites tag but we just have to get on with it and deal with it. Basically we need to focus on producing a good performance and getting a bit of consistency going. We had a good win over Kilkenny, but that is in the past. Now we need to replicate the start we had that day, and to do that, we will need massive intensity and a terrific workrate all over the field.”
Donnellan is 26 years of age now and he knows that opportunities like Sunday do not come around every year.
“Cork are similar to ourselves in that they are combining young lads with a few older heads. They have been improving as the season goes on and Jimmy Barry Murphy has them believing in themselves. They will have improved from their win over Waterford and we are expecting a really tough battle.”
“But we are ready for that and there is a lot of belief in our squad. You cannot expect to get into an All-Ireland final easily and we know that we will have to produce the goods if we are to reach the final. We are looking forward to the game and we believe that if we all perform as we can, that we are capable of getting a win.
