Dónal Óg Cusack

Infobox GAA player
code= Hurling
sport = Hurling


name = Dónal Óg Cusack
irish = Dónal Óg Ó Cíosóg
fullname = Dónal Óg Cusack
placeofbirth = Cloyne
countryofbirth = County Cork
bday=16
bmonth=3
byear= 1977
dyear=
dday=
dmonth=
height = 6'
nickname =
county = Cork
province = Munster
club = Cloyne
clposition = Goalkeeper
clubs =
clyears =
clapps(points) =
clcounty =
clprovince=
clallireland =
counties = Cork
icposition = Goalkeeper
icyears = 1996-
icapps(points) = 40 (0-0)
icprovince = 5
icallireland = 3
allstars = 1
clupdate =
icupdate =

Dónal Óg Cusack (born 16 March, 1977 in Cloyne, County Cork) is an Irish sportsman. He plays hurling with his local club Cloyne and with the Cork senior inter-county team. He is the current goalkeeper on both teams and is regarded by commentators as one of the best in the current game. Cusack has been nominated for five All-Stars and has received the award twice. [cite news |first=Kieran |last=Shannon |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Pride and passion of the keeper |url= |work=Sunday Tribune |publisher= |date=2008-04-06 |accessdate=2008-04-06 ]

Early life

Dónal Óg Cusack was born in Cloyne, County Cork in 1977. He was educated locally and currently works as an electrical engineer. A grandnephew of the famed Christy Ring, generally regarded as the greatest hurler of all time, Cusack was noted as a good hurler from an early age. He made his first inter-county debut in the early 1990s when he took part in the Under-14 Tony Forrestal Tournament. He tasted further hurling success at Midleton CBS when he captained the under-15 side to Munster victory in the Whyte Cup. In 1995 Cusack had more underage hurling success with his school when he captained the team that won the Harty Cup, a prestigious hurling competition in Munster. His team-mates on the Midleton panel included future hurling star Joe Deane.

Career

Club

Cusack plays his club hurling with his local club in Cloyne. When he started playing the club was regarded as one of the strongest teams in the intermediate section of the county championship. Cusack first tasted major success in 1997. That year he won a senior county championship title with his divisional side Imokilly while also capturing an intermediate county championship title with Cloyne. This victory guaranteed Cusack's club senior status the following year.

In recent years the club came to be regarded as one of the best teams in the Cork county championship. In 2004 Cusack was a key member of the team that reached the county final for the first time ever. Na Piarsaigh provided the oppoistion on that occasion with victory going to the Cork city side. In 2005 Cloyne were back in the county final for the second consecutive year. Cusack was between the posts again, however, once again he ended up on the losing side as victory went to Newtownshandrum. The following year Cloyne contested their third county final in-a-row, however, the club had been successful on all previous attempts. Erin's Own were the opponents on that occasion and were the underdogs going into the final. For aheart-breaking third time Cusack ended up on the losing side as victory went to Cloyne's east Cork colleagues. This defeat meant that Cloyne were the first team since Ballincollig in 1943 to lose three consecutive county finals.

In recent years Cusack has also acted as coach of the Cloyne senior hurling tea,

Inter-county

Cusack's hurling prowess at club level brought him to the attentions of the Cork inter-county selectors and he was soon picked as goalkeeper on the Cork minor team.

He was central to Cork winning the All-Ireland Minor title in 1995, the teams first minor title since 1985. Cusack made his senior inter-county debut against Tipperary in 1996 in an Oireachtas game. It would be another few years before he became the first-choice goalkeeper.

Following his victories at minor level Cusack soon made the Cork under-21 team. In 1997 he won an All-Ireland Under-21. In 1998 Cusack won a second consecutive All-Ireland under-21 medal. His team-mates on those teams - Seán Óg Ó hAilpín, Wayne Sherlock and Diarmuid O'Sullivan - would all go on to form the backbone of the senior team over the next decade. More importantly for Cusack was the fact that Ger Cunningham, the goalkeeper on the Cork senior team since 1980, decided to retire from the game. Cusack now became the first-choice goalkeeper on the senior side.

In his first full season in 1999 Cusack won his first Munster Championship medal before qualifying for his very first All-Ireland final. In a Cork team that had an average age of just 21 Cork were the underdogs on the day, however, they overcame Kilkenny by a single point with Cusack winning his first senior All-Ireland medal. He finished off the year be winning his first, and to date his only, All-Star Award.

In 2000 Cusack won a second consecutive Minster title, however, his side were defeated by Offaly in the All-Ireland semi-final. While Cusack's hurling career should have gone from strength to strength, Cork's hurling fortunes took a remarkable downturn, culminating in a players strike in 2002. Cusack was one of the main leaders when the entire hurling panel withdrew their services in December 2002 demanding better conditions. Eventually the players demands were met and normal service resumed on the Cork hurling team. Cusack has continued his campaign for better conditions for players and is the current chairman of the Gaelic Players Association, an unofficial players "union". In 2003 Cork were back. Cusack won his third munster Championship medal before going on to play Kilkenny in the All-Ireland final. In spite of losing that day the odds were that Cork and Kilkenny would meet again in the 2004 final.

In 2004 Cork lost an epic Munster final to Waterford, however, they qualified for the All-Ireland final via the scenic route with the "back-door system". Once again their opponents were Kilkenny, however, this time Cork overturned the result of the previous year and Cusack captured a second All-Ireland winners medal. Cork were on form again in 2005 with Cusack capturing his fourth provincial Munster medal, before going on to defeat Galway in the final to win his third All-Ireland medal.

In 2006 expectations were high amongst Cork supporters that the team could win a third successive All-Ireland title. These expectations were heightened when the team won the Munster Championship, with Cusack capturing his fifth provincial medal. Cusack had his best championship season with Cork in 2006. He provided real leadership from his goalkeeping position and was one of the stars of the team. Unfortunately for Cusack Cork were defeated by Kilkenny and were denied the three-in-a-row. In spite of this Cusack won a long-overdue second All-Star Award in November 2006.

In 2007 Cork set out to atone for their failure to capture the elusive three in-a-row. The first game of the championship pitted Cork against Clare, however, there was controversy before the sliothar was even thrown in. The so-called Semplegate affair saw both Cork and Clare emerge from the tunnel at the same. A melee ensued with Cork players Cusack, Diarmuid O'Sullivan and Seán Óg Ó hAilpín being singled out as culprits. Cork won the game against Clare, however, the three players mentioned earlier suspended for the next game against Waterford. Cork lost on that occasion and had to play in the qualifiers in an effort to get their championship campaign back on track. Cork qualified along with Tipperary and were drawn to play Waterford for the second time that year in the All-Ireland quarter-final. That game saw Cusack make a vital save in injury time when Cork were leading by a point, however, Waterford went on to level the scores and a replay was forced. Waterford won the replay and Cork's season came to an abrupt end.

The beginning of 2008 saw Cork's pre-season preparation hampered due to disgareements with the Cork County Board. The Cork senior Gaelic football team refused to play under new manager Teddy Holland and the Cork senior hurlers withdrew their services in sympathy. The 'strike' continued until February 2008, which resulted in Cusack's side withdrawing from the Waterford Crystal Cup as well as postponing their opening National Hurling League games against Kilkenny and Waterford. Cork were later forced to forfeit their league points after failing to fulfill these fixtures. Cork's first outing in the championship was a meeting with Tipperary. On that occasion Tipp defeated their age-old rivals at home, ending a hoodoo that had lasted since 1923. This defeat resulted in Cork having a second chance in the All-Ireland qualifiers. An unconvincing victory over Dublin set up a meeting with Galway, a team tipped for All-Ireland success. The first-half was a scrappy affair with Cusack receivinga yellow card early in the first-half. He later received a second yellow card for pulling down a Galway player and was duly sent off shortly before the interval. Cork, however, went on to win the game with Martin Coleman, Jnr deputising for the sidelined Cusack.

Provincial

Cusack has also lined out with Munster in the inter-provincial hurling competition. He first played for his province in the semi-final of the competition in 1999, however, he was replaced by Tipp's Brendan Cummins for the final. In 2000 Cusack came on as a substitute to collect his first Railway Cup medal following a win over Leinster. He came on as a substitute again in 2005 to collect his second Railway Cup title.

Teams

References

External links

* [http://cork.gaa.ie Cork GAA]
* [http://www.cloynegaa.com Cloyne GAA]
* [http://www.hurlingstats.com/show_player_matches.php?plrid=40 Donal Óg Cusack on hurlingstats.com]