John Donnelly (hurler)

John Donnelly (born 4 March 1998) is an Irish hurler who plays for Kilkenny Intermediate Championship club Thomastown and at inter-county level with the Kilkenny senior hurling team. He usually lines out as a centre-forward.[2]

John Donnelly
Personal information
Irish name Seán Ó Donnaile
Sport Hurling
Position Centre-forward
Born (1998-03-04) 4 March 1998 (age 26)
Waterford, Ireland
Height 6 ft 0[1] in (1.83 m)
Occupation Student
Club(s)
Years Club
Thomastown
Club titles
Kilkenny titles 0
Colleges(s)
Years College
2016-present
DCU Dóchas Éireann
College titles
Fitzgibbon titles 0
Inter-county(ies)*
Years County Apps (scores)
2017-present
Kilkenny 18 (0-22)
Inter-county titles
Leinster titles 4
All-Irelands 0
NHL 1
All Stars 0
*Inter County team apps and scores correct as of 22:02, 17 July 2021.

Playing career edit

DCU Dóchas Éireann edit

As a student at Dublin City University, Donnelly immediately became involved in hurling and joined the college's freshers' hurling team in his first year. On 2 March 2017, he was selected at full-forward when Dublin City University faced the University of Limerick in the All-Ireland freshers' final. Donnelly was held scoreless but ended the game with a winners' medal following the 1-15 to 1-13 extra-time victory.[3]

Thomastown edit

Donnelly joined the Thomastown club at a young age and played in all grades at juvenile and underage levels before eventually joining the club's top adult team in the Kilkenny Intermediate Championship.

Kilkenny edit

Minor and under-21 edit

Donnelly first lined out for Kilkenny as a member of the minor team during the 2015 Leinster Championship. He made his first appearance for the team on 25 April 2015 when he scored two points from play in a 1-18 to 1-17 extra-time defeat of Wexford. On 5 July 2015, Donnelly won a Leinster Championship medal after scoring two points from play in a 1-17 to 1-15 defeat of Dublin in the final.[4]

Donnelly was eligible for the minor grade for a second consecutive year in 2016. He made his last appearance for the team on 14 May 2016 in a 2-18 to 1-19 defeat by Dublin.[5]

Donnelly progressed onto the Kilkenny under-21 for the 2017 Leinster Championship. He made his first appearance for the team on 31 May 2017 when he lined out in a 0-21 to 0-16 defeat of Dublin.[6] Donnelly won a Leinster Championship medal on 5 July 2017 after scoring two points from play in Kilkenny's 0-30 to 1-15 defeat of Wexford in the final.[7] On 9 September 2017, he scored a point from centre-forward when Kilkenny suffered a 0-17 to 0-11 defeat by Limerick in the All-Ireland final.[8]

Donnelly was eligible for the under-21 grade for a second consecutive year in 2018. He made his last appearance for the team on 20 June 2018 in a 3-13 to 1-17 defeat by Galway.[9]

Senior edit

Donnelly joined the Kilkenny senior team at the start of the 2017 season. He was an unused substitute throughout the National League, Leinster Championship and All-Ireland Championship campaigns.

On 27 January 2018, Donnelly made his first appearance for the Kilkenny senior team. He was introduced as a 43rd-minute substitute for Conor Martin in a 1-24 to 0-24 defeat by Cork in the National League.[10] On 8 April 2018, Donnelly was selected at left wing-forward when Kilkenny faced Tipperary in the National League final. He scored two points from play and collected a winners' medal following the 2-23 to 2-17 victory.[11] Donnelly was selected on the bench when Kilkenny faced Galway in the Leinster final on 1 July 2018. He was introduced as a substitute for Richie Leahy in the 0-18 apiece draw.[12] Donnelly broke onto the starting fifteen at right wing-forward for the replay a week later, however, he was substituted by Luke Scanlon in the 1-28 to 3-15 defeat.[13]

On 30 June 2019, Donnelly was listed amongst the substitutes when Kilkenny faced Wexford in the Leinster final. He remained on the bench for the entire game which Kilkenny lost by 1-23 to 0-23.[14]

Career statistics edit

As of 13 February 2022
Team Year National League Leinster All-Ireland Total
Division Apps Score Apps Score Apps Score Apps Score
Kilkenny 2017 Division 1A 0 0-00 0 0-00 0 0-00 0 0-00
2018 7 0-09 6 0-07 1 0-01 14 0-17
2019 6 0-04 3 0-02 3 0-06 12 0-12
2020 Division 1B 3 0-05 2 0-03 1 0-02 6 0-10
2021 4 0-04 2 0-01 0 0-00 6 0-05
2022 2 0-09 0 0-00 0 0-00 2 0-09
Total 22 0-31 13 0-13 5 0-09 40 0-53

Honours edit

DCU Dóchas Éireann
  • All-Ireland Freshers' Hurling Championship: 2017
Kilkenny

References edit

  1. ^ English, Nicky. "Nicky English's guide to the Kilkenny team". The Irish Times. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  2. ^ Keys, Colm (9 April 2018). "Transition in the blink of an eye from Kilkenny". Irish Independent. Retrieved 15 May 2019.
  3. ^ Hurley, Denis (2 March 2017). "Pulsating, absorbing Freshers final sees DCU sneak past UL after 80-minute thriller". The 42. Retrieved 14 February 2019.
  4. ^ Cahill, Jackie (5 July 2015). "Late late show from Kilkenny seals another Leinster minor hurling crown". The 42. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  5. ^ Mac Lochlainn, Rónán (14 May 2016). "Dublin earn thrilling Leinster minor semi-final victory over Kilkenny". The 42. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  6. ^ "Leinster U21HC: Cats dethrone Dubs". Hogan Stand. 31 May 2017. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  7. ^ O'Brien, Kevin (5 July 2017). "Kilkenny land 30 points en route to completing U21 and minor Leinster hurling double". The 42. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
  8. ^ Cormican, Eoghan (11 September 2017). "Limerick savour that September excitement in U21 hurling final". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  9. ^ McKenna, Conor (20 June 2018). "Galway down Cats to book Leinster U-21 final spot". RTÉ Sport. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  10. ^ Crowe, Dermot (28 January 2018). "Cork claim early bragging rights in free-scoring clash". Irish Independent. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
  11. ^ McGoldrick, Seán (8 April 2018). "Kilkenny whirlwind blows Tipperary away as Brian Cody claims ninth league title". Irish Independent. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  12. ^ "Leinster SHC final: Cats and Tribe must meet again". Hogan Stand. 1 July 2018. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  13. ^ Rooney, Declan (8 July 2018). "Galway retain Leinster crown after epic battle with Kilkenny". RTÉ Sport. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
  14. ^ O'Brien, Kevin (30 June 2019). "Wexford land first Leinster title in 15 years with thrilling victory over Kilkenny". The 42. Retrieved 1 July 2019.