After his involvement in the successful minor and U-21 teams of the early 1990s, it was expected that he would be an automatic choice to join the Galway senior team. However, the goalkeeping position went to Morgan Darcy. Donoghue turned to association football after this. He played with Kiltulla F.C. and helped the team reach the quarter-finals of the FAI Junior Cup. Over the course of the whole season Donoghue scored a remarkable forty goals. He later joined Galway United and, although he never played in the League of Ireland, he regularly lined out in the Connacht Senior League.