Donley gave the Orient the lead through an audacious lob before City fought back to eventually win 2-1 in today's early kickoff.
The Tottenham loanee later said, "I thought we did well. We knew it would be a really tough game. I thought we made a good account of ourselves. It's disappointing to lose but I'm proud of the boys.
"I know I hit the goal well. I knew it fell for me nicely. I saw him off his line and luckily it went in. It will be a happy moment. It would have been a lot nicer if we won. It was disappointing we lost but it was a good moment.
"You could feel it was a special moment for the club. They are a top team, they haven't been doing what they have in recent years but you can see the quality that they had."
On the message from manager Richie Wellens at half-time, he said: "10 men behind the ball and try and not concede."
On focus switching to Tuesday and Mansfield at home, Donley concluded: "We know we are in a good position in the league and we will go to Tuesday and try and get the win."