AFTER FEELING THE dreaded “pop” during last weekend’s All-Ireland SFC quarter-final, Monaghan’s Colin Walshe played on for the remaining 58 minutes.
But unknown to himself, the team doctor, or any of the onlooking fans, he had in fact torn his cruciate ligament.
And the 2013 Allstar corner-back remained one of his team’s stand-out performers in the 2-22 to 0-11 defeat.
“At the time I was in serious pain,” Walshe tells TheScore.ie. “When it happened, if I was told there and then that it was a cruciate I would of went off straight away. But for some reason I couldn’t move my leg at all at first, but the physio kind of opened it out.”
“I thought that maybe I felt the pop on the outside of the knee so I thought, well I’ve never had a cruciate before, but I felt the pop on the outside so I thought it was something out there that went.”
The defender picked up the injury after just 22 minutes, before which he had been in inspired form, and amazingly afterwards he remained one of Monaghan’s best defenders.
“I thought to myself, just the way the game was going, that whatever it was that was wrong I could struggle on – and I did.
“I kind that I was struggling and I was probably a little afraid to stop and turn with the left knee — it was very unstable. There was no pain but it just felt very unstable, I never had the pain afterwards that I had at the very start.
“If I had of been taken off straight away I would have dreaded the worst though. It was the kind of pain I was in, it was just a very intense pain right across the front of the knee and the left hand side. I heard a serious pop at the time.
“Playing on didn’t affect it though, it was already done, it was torn to the point that there were only a few fibres left in it. I didn’t twist it after that, because that would have annoyed it. I know if I had of hurt it again I would have went off — but I just got through it.”
Gutted to learn I've ruptured my ACL & join the dreaded cruciate club! But as the saying goes, I'll come back bigger & stronger!! #2015
The 23-year-old defender says that the dreaded cruciate ligament injury was the last thing he expected after being able to play on for almost an hour against the All-Ireland champions.
“It hasn’t been too bad since. It was pretty sore and swollen on Tuesday when I went for the scan alright. I’m still not sure when I’m going for the operation but I should know on Monday and hopefully it’ll be very soon.”
Monaghan and Dublin were actually tied at three points-a-piece before Walshe landed awkwardly on his left knee following an aerial collision on the edge of his square. Following a long delay for treatment to the defender, Dublin outscored the 2013 Ulster champions 2-3 to no score.
“Looking back at it, we probably started brightly and we were stifling them a bit — and it was going exactly how we’d hoped.
“I suppose that break in play though it let them re-group, and ourselves, we just switched off. Our concentrations levels too, we weren’t fully switched on and then before you knew it we were seven down and the game was out of sight then.
“I suppose they were ruthless in that way and they got their chances and they burried the game.”
Walshe is now set for a six- to nine-month spell on the sidelines which will rule him out for both Monaghan and his club Doohamlet O’Neills until well into 2015.
“It just depends on the operation, it could be six or nine months, but I’m looking at next March, April, May time anyway,” he says.
“It’s disappointing with the club. I was looking forward to getting back with them, we’re in a bit of a relegation fight at the minute and we were hoping to pick up points and to stay senior. But that’s out of the question now and it’s really disappointing.”
'I was in serious pain' - Colin Walshe on playing through his cruciate ligament injury
AFTER FEELING THE dreaded “pop” during last weekend’s All-Ireland SFC quarter-final, Monaghan’s Colin Walshe played on for the remaining 58 minutes.
But unknown to himself, the team doctor, or any of the onlooking fans, he had in fact torn his cruciate ligament.
And the 2013 Allstar corner-back remained one of his team’s stand-out performers in the 2-22 to 0-11 defeat.
“At the time I was in serious pain,” Walshe tells TheScore.ie. “When it happened, if I was told there and then that it was a cruciate I would of went off straight away. But for some reason I couldn’t move my leg at all at first, but the physio kind of opened it out.”
“I thought that maybe I felt the pop on the outside of the knee so I thought, well I’ve never had a cruciate before, but I felt the pop on the outside so I thought it was something out there that went.”
The defender picked up the injury after just 22 minutes, before which he had been in inspired form, and amazingly afterwards he remained one of Monaghan’s best defenders.
“I kind that I was struggling and I was probably a little afraid to stop and turn with the left knee — it was very unstable. There was no pain but it just felt very unstable, I never had the pain afterwards that I had at the very start.
“If I had of been taken off straight away I would have dreaded the worst though. It was the kind of pain I was in, it was just a very intense pain right across the front of the knee and the left hand side. I heard a serious pop at the time.
“Playing on didn’t affect it though, it was already done, it was torn to the point that there were only a few fibres left in it. I didn’t twist it after that, because that would have annoyed it. I know if I had of hurt it again I would have went off — but I just got through it.”
The 23-year-old defender says that the dreaded cruciate ligament injury was the last thing he expected after being able to play on for almost an hour against the All-Ireland champions.
“It hasn’t been too bad since. It was pretty sore and swollen on Tuesday when I went for the scan alright. I’m still not sure when I’m going for the operation but I should know on Monday and hopefully it’ll be very soon.”
Monaghan and Dublin were actually tied at three points-a-piece before Walshe landed awkwardly on his left knee following an aerial collision on the edge of his square. Following a long delay for treatment to the defender, Dublin outscored the 2013 Ulster champions 2-3 to no score.
“Looking back at it, we probably started brightly and we were stifling them a bit — and it was going exactly how we’d hoped.
“I suppose they were ruthless in that way and they got their chances and they burried the game.”
Walshe is now set for a six- to nine-month spell on the sidelines which will rule him out for both Monaghan and his club Doohamlet O’Neills until well into 2015.
“It just depends on the operation, it could be six or nine months, but I’m looking at next March, April, May time anyway,” he says.
“It’s disappointing with the club. I was looking forward to getting back with them, we’re in a bit of a relegation fight at the minute and we were hoping to pick up points and to stay senior. But that’s out of the question now and it’s really disappointing.”
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