‘Brilliant’ Conor O’Donnell praised after big Donegal display

Conor O’Donnell has been earmarked as one to watch for some time now and the Carndonagh man has seamlessly worked his way into the Donegal team.

O’Donnell kicked three points in Sunday’s 2-11 to 1-9 win over Kildare in Ballybofey.

The Letterkenny Institute of Technology student also had a starting berth in the opening Division One draw with Mayo. In recent weeks, O’Donnell was a firm feature of the LyIT side that reached the quarter-finals of the Sigerson Cup.

“Conor has been playing very well,” Donegal manager Declan Bonner said.

“He came on the scene last year against Armagh in the League and kicked a couple of scores. He has been playing very well and he has played an awful lot of football in the last while. Conor put in a big performance.”

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O’Donnell’s rise was curtailed with a cruciate ligament injury in July 2019.

However, he came off the bench to score two points in a League draw against Armagh year.

O’Donnell made his Championship bow off the bench in a preliminary round win over Down, scoring a point at Pairc Esler.

Brendan McCole, the Donegal full-back, was another to acknowledge the Inishowen man after Sunday’s win.

He said: “Conor O’Donnell is a brilliant player and was unlucky with a bad injury for some time, but he has really come back well”.

Donegal have some injury concerns following the game, chief among them captain Michael Murphy who was forced off after 20 minutes. Bonner deferred a diagnosis to his medical team, but mentioned that Murphy had ‘some damage done’.

“Any time Michael goes off you worry about it,” Bonner said.

Jason McGee came off in the second half with what was termed ‘a bang’.

Jamie Brennan has suffered a set-back in his recover and will be absent for several weeks.

Stephen McMenamin returned with a late cameo appearance on Sunday while Hugh McFadden and Daire Ó Baoill are also undergoing rehab as their expected return dates grow closer.

Donegal are back in action on Sunday-week when they face Kerry.

Bonner said: “Division One is a very unforgiving place. You need to be at the levels every day you go out. Hopefully we’ll have one or two more experienced players back for the next game.”