McVeety honoured as he reaches 100-cap milestone

Football

Damien Donohoe

Reaching 100 senior appearances for your county is a landmark few players ever achieve. Doing so in the middle of another bruising, narrow defeat summed up both the pride and, at times, frustration that currently defines Dara McVeety’s Cavan career.

The Crosserlough man became the latest member of the county’s century club at the weekend but the personal milestone was overshadowed by a second consecutive late two-point score that denied Cavan a result they badly craved.

Still, even in disappointment, McVeety’s sense of perspective was clear.

“Yeah look, I’m delighted, I suppose,” he said.

“More importantly, it’s a big thing for the family. There’s a lot of effort that goes in behind the scenes to get me to training and matches, and now there’s help at home too. So it’s great, and I’m really proud to be able to represent them 100 times and hopefully to keep doing it for another little while. On a personal note, I’m quite happy with it.”

That sense of family significance was heightened by the presence of his newborn daughter Annie on the sideline, adding another layer of meaning to a day that will live long in his memory.

“Yeah, it’s brilliant,” McVeety smiled.

“Hopefully whatever she wants to do when she grows older, she’s passionate about it, like I am with football and her mammy is with camogie. It really reminds you how fortunate you are to be able to come out and do this.”

From a skinny teenager handed his chance in 2013, to one of the most dependable figures in Cavan football, McVeety’s journey has been built on consistency, resilience and a deep-rooted love for wearing the blue jersey.

“I can remember my debut, yeah,” he recalled. “It was here in 2013 against Monaghan. I came on and Terry Hyland, in fairness to him, took a punt on me, a young lad with long hair at the time! From there I got a few breaks and was fortunate enough to play a good bit. It’s a huge honour. Since I was a child, it’s all I ever wanted to do. Probably since the baby came along you realise how lucky you are to get out every day and represent Cavan.”

That sense of pride, however, was matched by raw honesty about the pain of another tight loss.

“Devastated, to be honest,” McVeety admitted.

“Same as last weekend, a late two-pointer got us. The boys played a massive shift and the subs that came on made a huge difference. We went five down in the first half and clawed it back. New lads coming in made a massive impact.

“We’ve played well the last two games and lost, I’d much rather play bad and win, to be honest. But the league comes quick and fast.”

Cavan’s resilience was evident in the way they responded to early pressure, grew into the contest and produced moments of real quality, including a slick first-half goal finished by Peter Corrigan after sharp interplay involving McVeety and Cormac O’Reilly.

“Probably it did take a bit of time to adjust,” McVeety said of the opening exchanges. “They hit the ground running. We know we’ve done the work, we just didn’t get off the mark as quickly as we would have liked. But the response from the boys was exceptional. Corrigan was thundering hard. Stormer (Cormac O’Reilly) was brilliant again, winning hard ball and driving at the defence.”

A second-half penalty swung momentum again but Cavan refused to fold.

“The penalty was a sucker punch, but we clawed it back again with a few big scores,” said McVeety.

“There’s good resilience in the team. We’re showing grit and getting ourselves back into games. It took an exceptional two-pointer to beat us, same as last week. Maybe a bit more discipline or not switching off at key moments, but you can’t fault the lads. I’m proud of them, they put in a serious shift.”

One of the most encouraging aspects for Cavan was the impact of young players, with substitute Caoimhan McGovern kicking a massive late point to edge them in front.

“We’ve young lads like Caoimhan coming on and putting in a serious shift,” McVeety said.

“You don’t always see the work they’re doing on the training field, but he showed it when he came on and stood up. When lads were tired, he kicked a huge point.”

Despite those positives, McVeety was blunt about the need for results.

“Moral victories don’t mean much to us, though. We want results. But we’ll keep at it, and hopefully things will turn in the next couple of games.”

Asked what must change to turn narrow defeats into wins, the experienced forward pointed to fine margins rather than wholesale alterations.

“I don’t think a huge amount, to be honest,” he said.

“Maybe be a bit more clinical up front. I include myself in that, I gave away a cheap turnover. Decision-making, maybe keeping the ball a bit better. But at this level it’s very fine margins

“If that two-pointer goes wide, I think we win the game. It was a phenomenal kick. You wouldn’t mind someone taking that on from that far out in the 70th minute when legs are tired.

“We’re not far away, just need to be a bit cuter and finish our chances.”

There is also perspective drawn from recent history.

“Last year we lost our first two league games and still ended up in the mix for promotion, so we know we’re not dead and buried. We’ll keep fighting to the last minute of every game.”

The 100 caps is “a huge honour,” he said simply.

“Hopefully we can turn it around in the next one.”