Shooting from the hip in the line of fire

AS a goalkeeper, Donal Óg Cusack is used to life in the line of fire. However, Diarmuid O’Flynn found it’s not just sliotars he has to worry about.

IT’S ten years since Donal Óg Cusack’s first start as Cork’s goalkeeper, in the Oireachtas against Tipperary. It wasn’t a gentle one: “Declan Ryan came in on the charge, took me, ball and all!”

He felt privileged then to be wearing the red-and-white and feels even more privileged today. “Half-time in that first game, I couldn’t believe it, I was walking off alongside John Leahy, THE John Leahy! Ten years on, I enjoy every minute of playing for Cork. I appreciate even the bad days, the bad times; if a training session doesn’t go well, I can honestly say, I appreciate every moment I’m there.”