FOR ONE MEMBER OF the Letterkenny Rovers squad, the journey to the Intermediate Cup final has been littered with ‘what ifs’.
On an August evening last year, Odhrán McMacken went for a ball while playing for Letterkenny Gaels against Gaeil Fhánada in the Donegal Under-21 Championship.
“The foot planted in the ground, it twisted and I just heard the snap,” he recalls now, nine months on.
“That was me. Gone.”
[adrotate group=”37″]McMacken is nearing the end of his rehabilitation after snapping his anterior cruciate ligament, the injury most feared by sports people.
McMacken has watched and wondered all the while as his Rovers team-mates have defeated Cockhill Celtic, Dunboyne, Killester United and Ringmahon Rangers to reach the final.
“It’s been a difficult season and it’s been hard watching them, but I’m delighted for them,” McMacken (pictured above by Stephen Doherty) says.
[adrotate group=”63″]“The boys added me to a Facebook group chat so it’s kept me in the loop with things. They’ve included me in a lot of things, which was nice.
“I still have the taste of it and I just can’t wait to get back.”
The summer months will bring an end to the agony and he’ll be raring to go for the new season, wherever it is Rovers will be operating, given that the Ulster Senior League’s future remains clouded.
“It’s been a long haul,” McMacken says.
“The rehab is going okay. I’m back running and doing a bit of ball work. I’m in with Mickey McGlynn every couple of Fridays too and he has me well on track.”
Although he’s had a watching brief for the season, McMacken is still managing to enjoy the build-up – and he’s well aware of the significance of it all for the club and its people.
He says: “You can’t put into words what this means for the club. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Crumlin will be a tough side. They won this last year so we know what we’re up against.”
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