BY DAVID CARAVIELLO
Of The Post and Courier Staff
Seamus Donnelly had a great view of the Charleston Battery's record-setting 2002 regular season. He watched much of it from the press box atop Blackbaud Stadium, wearing a coat and tie instead of his black and gold jersey, waiting for the surgically repaired ligament in his right knee to heal.
While the Battery won a franchise-best 19 games, Donnelly could only look on and applaud. When his team went on the road, he stayed home. When his teammates talked about instances from specific games, he couldn't join in the conversation. It was hard not to feel like an outsider, even among men who wore the same uniforms and played for the same coach.
"It was very, very frustrating personally. Obviously, you're with the boys every day, and you're part of the club. It's like the club's doing well, but personally, you're pulling your hair out," said Donnelly, a 31-year-old native of Dublin, Ireland.
"You don't feel like you're contributing. You don't feel like you belong, really. You have nothing to talk to the lads about. They're talking about the games and what happened and the away trips, and you're not part of it. It's a lonely time. You just want to help out. It's just frustrating, just flat-out frustrating."
These days, Donnelly is trying to put that frustration behind him. The Battery midfielder is a potential starter in tonight's 7:30 A-League matchup against Virginia Beach (2-0-0, 6 points), which is tied with Charleston (2-0-0, 6 points) atop the Southeast Division. The game will also serve as the first half of a two-leg, aggregate-score U.S. Open Cup qualifier, the second half coming when the Battery visits the Mariners on May 17.
"You wake up, and you look forward to training," Donnelly said. "There's no moaning or anything. Every training session, every game, is a bonus."
Donnelly was a prolific scorer during his three seasons with Virginia Beach (then known as the Hampton Roads Mariners), but injuries have rendered him virtually invisible since he signed with the Battery in 2001. His first season in Charleston, he injured his right ankle and knee while making a tackle in the third match of the year. While the initial medial collateral ligament strain did not require surgery, Donnelly did need an operation to remove bone spurs that formed in his ankle during the recovery.
He finished 2001 with just one assist, far removed from the 37 goals he had scored in his previous three seasons with the Mariners. But 2002 got off to a promising start: New head coach Chris Ramsey and assistant Mike Anhaeuser not only kept him on the roster, but penciled him in as a starter at midfield. He scored a goal in an exhibition against the Dallas Burn of Major League Soccer.
But two days before the season opener, Donnelly made a tackle in practice and felt that all-too-familiar pain shoot up the inside of his right knee. This time, the injury required surgery. While the Battery won 12 straight games and compiled the best record in the A-League's Eastern Conference, Donnelly watched. He didn't play again until the final few games of the regular season, and even then he wasn't close to 100 percent.
"It's always hard when you're a player and you're not playing, particularly when the team is having a good season. You want to be a part of it," Ramsey said.
"I'm sure it hurt him a lot emotionally. But he was a good guy for us. The lads like him, and he's always very supportive of what we do and how we play. I'm glad to see him actively involved with the squad."
Now Donnelly is trying to regain the form that made him such a force in his Mariner years. His right knee requires almost continual rehabilitation to keep the muscles around the damaged ligament strong. He feels his speed returning. His confidence has never wavered.
"When I do get 100 percent healthy," he said, "I think I'll be even better than I was back then."
Donnelly said he isn't worried about his knee going out on him a third time. Still, he gave his team a scare Wednesday morning when he slipped and fell during practice. Ramsey and trainer Kenny Snider rushed over to make sure the knee was all right.
It was. Donnelly's biggest challenge now, Ramsey said, is to shake the rust out of his play. "He's got to tidy his game up a little bit, but he's aware of that," he said. "He works at it every game. When you haven't played consistently for that long, it's just going to be a matter of time."
Donnelly understands that, and feels the need to repay a team that has stuck with him when others might not have.
"The owners and coaches showed a whole lot of faith in me. After two years, how many players would have been let go? They were great with me. (Ramsey) has been fantastic. Now, it's just about repaying people's faith in you," he said.
"My contract was up at the end of last year. They could have said goodbye, I could have left, they could have said no more. But they gave me another year. They wanted to see the player they originally signed. So it's a good feeling to know that you're wanted, and it's a good feeling to hopefully contribute."
NOTES
Battery defender Fred Degand earned a spot on the A-League team of the week for his play in Charleston's 1-0 victory over Montreal on April 26. ... Charleston went 4-0 against the Mariners last season. The Mariners have upgraded their roster since, adding former U.S. national team members Roy Lassiter and Dante Washington. ... The A-League will add a franchise in Edmonton, Canada, in 2004.
