Knee injury rules O’Gorman out
UCD Waves made it to two cup finals this season but their captain Aine O’Gorman has missed out on both opportunities.
Puzzling scheduling meant that she had to forego their Shield final success but now a knee injury has ruled her out of the Waves’ November 5th showdown with Cork City.
The Enniskerry woman suffered the injury in the early stages of the Republic of Ireland’s success over Northern Ireland in September. Despite initially trying to continue, the 28-yearold eventually succumbed to the injury which transpired to be grade two medial ligament damage. O’Gorman was left in a leg brace but is on the road to recovery.
“I’m recovering slowly and the physio is happy with my progress and how the ligaments have knitted now I just have to work on getting the movement back in my knee without over doing it and then work hard to build the strength back up. My estimated recovery time is 10 - 12 weeks so I will definitely miss the end of the club season it would be a push for me at the minute to be back fit, sharp and ready to play for the World Cup Qualifier away to Holland at the end of November. At the moment, I can only take every day at a time focus on my rehab to get back on my feet properly.”
O’Gorman has had to watch from the sidelines as UCD have trudged towards the end of their domestic league which will see them finish third if results go their way – a far from satisfying campaign for the fitness instructor.
“With the WNL season coming to an end we are well out of the running for the league which is very disappointing as we under achieved and lacked consistency and if I’m honest dropping too many points to teams we should and had to be beating. We are however looking to end the season on a high in the FAI Cup final Vs Cork in the Aviva on November 5th. I’m gutted I won’t be able to play but I’ll be there to support the team and have every confidence for them to put in a performance to lift the trophy.”
It’s the second final O’Gorman has missed but she was absent from her side’s success over Galway in the Shield through no fault of her own.
“Myself, Karen Duggan and Claire Walsh missed out of the shield final as we were on international duty which was mind boggling why the final was scheduled during the international window when we played in the 1uarter and semi-final but thankfully the girls went to Galway and put on a great display to bring the shield back to Dublin. “
O’Gorman will also miss out on at least one of Ireland’s next two World Cup qualifiers. They faced a trip to Slovakia yesterday (Tuesday) and travel to the Netherlands on November 28th – a fixture that O’Gorman will struggle to recover in time for as Ireland chase qualification to a major tournament for the first time ever.
“Very frustrating to miss out on the game but I know the girls will do the business in Slovakia and get the three points. I’ve been very lucky in my career to date and have only missed a couple international of games. It’s probably my first major setback but I’m not the first person to get injured it could be a lot worse, I’ll be back better and stronger.
“There is a great belief in the squad and it’s time for us to qualify for a major tournament. We are up against some very good sides, Holland are European Champions and Norway are top seeds in the group with only top place (in the group) going straight through and the best second-place finishers going into a play-off. One game at a time and we have to be well prepared and at our best every time we set foot on the field.”