Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
WE ARE ALL COMRADES DIXON PARK
Hungry to succeed Donnelly says bond between squad and management is a strong one as draw ends their winless run
AT the age of just 18, Gary Donnelly netted a hat-trick on his first start for Cliftonville – and that taste of top-level football has the midfielder hungry for more.
Donnelly, who celebrated his 24th birthday this month, has grown into one of the Championship’s most highlyrated midfielders since joining Ballyclare in 2018.
With excellent technique and an eye for goal, the midfielder has the ingredients to make the step back up to the Premiership – and has racked up experience in the second tier.
Donnelly told Match on Tuesday: “It feels hard to believe that it was so long ago that I made my debut at the Reds.
“The Championship is such a tough and physical league – it is a really demanding level of football and the experience really counts.
“Obviously I feel like a better player now than when I was at Cliftonville and not just because of the physical side of it.
“The ambition for me is always to play at as high a level as I can and that is especially true because I experienced it when I was younger.
“I feel like I am definitely good enough to play in the top-flight and having had that taste of it, that makes me hungrier to get back to that level.
“We have over 20 matches to go this season – we have been struggling recently but it is not the end of the world and we are confident we can get back challenging again.”
Having missed the opportunity to go top of the pile in the early Championship standings, the Comrades are now without a win in six league outings.
Yet Donnelly insists that despite the results, the mood within the camp has not dropped and self-belief is still key: “There is a great spirit at the club and the manager has good relations with all the players, which is a big help. “Obviously he will have a go at the players when he needs to but there is a culture at the club that we are friends, and we are in every situation together to be there for each other.
“All that comes from the boss and we will not let our heads drop or stop believing in what we are doing.”
Ballyclare did enjoy the County Antrim Shield scalp of Crusaders earlier this month
There is a great spirit at the club and the manager has good relations with all the players, which is a big help.
mixed emotions; to come from two goals down to get a point is great but we had a golden opportunity to win and thought we would have deserved it,”
Donnelly continued.
“Liam Hassin, who had scored our first, had a great chance one-on-one but it was a good save by the goalkeeper.
“We are a tight group at the club and we stick together no matter what, so that has helped during this run of results.
“Hopefully Saturday’s results get us out of that little rut of results we have had.”