KJ Molloy determined to make up for lost time at Ardara

Ardara had just seen off St Eunan’s in comfortable enough stead in their opening U-21 A championship encounter.

But a beeline by the entire playing squad and management was naturally being made directly on the full-time whistle for the warm, dry, even stable, sanctuary of the dressing rooms.

However, Molloy or, KJ as his teammates call him, is no doubt living in the moment right now and just glad to be back kicking ball and getting competitive minutes under his belt.

Having had to contend with a difficult ankle injury for the best part of two seasons, one of the county’s brightest young forwards seems to finally be out the other end of all of that.

“I’d two surgeries and it just wasn’t working out,” he told DonegalLive. “I was 19 at the time and there were other issues with it that just weren’t allowing me to get back at it.

“There were injections and different options but nothing really got to the bottom of it. I was really frustrated and sort of disillusioned to be quite honest.

“To be fair to Professor Stephen Kerns, Bons Secours in Galway, he decided to take a different approach.

“That was a sort of trimming or clean-out of all scar tissue, just to give maybe more scope or movement in it. Free it up as much as possible. I haven’t looked back since.

“It feels comfortable now and I’ve been able to build it back up. And I’m just looking to make up for lost time now”.

The former Donegal U-20 forward was back in the thick of it at the tail end of Ardara’s SFC campaign and played his part as they retained their championship status.

“The last time I played properly was the ‘advanced mark’ rule and I loved that. Now, the thing is different again and it’s like a new game. But’s it’s class and it’s exciting and it’s definitely giving forwards the chance to shine”.

And as he continues to blow the cobwebs, he and Ardara now look forward to a derby clash with Naomh Conail at Davy Brennan Memorial Park this Sunday.

“We got off to a good start against St Eunan’s. I think they have won the senior, reserve, minor, U-16 and U-14 titles.

“They are one of the real benchmarks. Naomh Conaill are in that same boat. Glenties U-20s were just edged out by MacCumhaills so they’ll be looking to bounce back.

“But it’s great to be looking forward to going over there and knowing we’re going to be competitive.

“We have a good side that has plenty of senior experience so that all bodes well for the future. It’s a step in the right direction for Ardara, on the whole.

“We won a U-21 B title last season so this is a step up now. It’s all confidence-building. It’s a mentality thing, really, where you get that belief from winning games.

“Naomh Conaill have some obvious established senior stars and the clubs probably have missed that wee bit of competitiveness as they've been on top for quite a while.

“So I’m sure both sets of supporters will show up and hopefully it’s a good and entertaining game. If the weather improves, I've no doubt it will be that.

“We’d all know each other really well - are all good friends. Off the top of my head, I can probably say twice in my life, I’ve been part of an Ardara team that has beaten Naomh Conaill.

“We might win the game on Sunday, We might lose the game on Sunday. But I’ve no doubt we’ll be in the game. And that’s all you want as a player going out onto the field”.