JUST recently, Kieran McGeeney busied himself singing Dara McVeety’s praises. The Armagh boss described the Cavan dynamo as currently the hardest working half-forward in Gaelic football.
Cavan tick a lot of the boxes as they prepare to oust Armagh on Sunday from the Ulster SFC. There’s team-spirit, speed, stamina plus scores in their locker and McVeety is a blue chip player for the Blues.
The Crosserlough clubman suits the modern-day game down to a tee. He’s tailor-made for it and of all the ‘engine’ men that Terry Hyland has at his disposal, McVeety is arguably the avatar of them all.
His speed off the mark is complemented by serious stamina and a keen eye for goal – he scored two points from play in last month’s NFL final against Tyrone and recently notched 1-3 for his club in a senior league game whilst operating from centre-back.
Overall, McVeety’s athleticism makes him a template for the archetypal box-to-box footballer. He is to the manor born as regards the modern game.
The 22-year old has been suffering from a ‘dead leg’ for the last couple of weeks, but he is confident he’ll be alright come Sunday.
There’s a major doubt over the ability of half-forward Niall McDermott to line out against Armagh, but McVeety is pleased to reveal that “everyone else is flying fit and really looking forward to the match”.
Armagh’s McGeeney will obviously seek to limit McVeety’s influence and douse the collective energy of the Cavan team, especially after the Orchard county’s think-tank got it so badly wrong in March when hosts Cavan cruised to a 3-18 to 0-10 victory in the sides’ NFL Division Two meeting.
McGeeney has scotched the notion, though, that side effects from his team’s 17-point defeat will be manifested in the upcoming Championship clash at Kingspan Breffni Park. McVeety concurs:
“I can’t see Armagh having any hangover from the League game and we didn’t dwell on the result either,” he said.
“Armagh definitely won’t be as poor this time around. I’m sure they’re mentally strong and our winning margin against them in the League really flattered us.
“It was a strange game. We got a run on them early on and pushed on. Armagh have got a lot of quality footballers, like the Forker brothers, and a very good half-back line, and they’ll have no fear playing us again.
“Kieran McGeeney will have them revved up to the last and I’m sure they’ll use their physicality to good effect. “We’ll have to be at our best. We’ll have to try and limit what they do best and maximise our strengths.”
Despite just being out of underage ranks, the raiding defender-cum-attacker has four years of senior county experience under his belt to date.
He says that playing at Croke Park last month is an experience he would love to taste again – for a third time – following on from his stint against Kerry in the All-Ireland Qualifiers in 2013.
The Dublin-based primary school teacher is optimistic that August could see that goal being realised.
“I really think we have the players to win the Championship this year but it’s up to us to deliver and that starts with the game against Armagh,” he said.
“They’ve a point to prove against us because they didn’t really show up the last day we met them in the League.
“We’re determined to produce our best football and see what that does for us. It’s all we can do and if Armagh step it up – as I’m sure they will – it should be a great game.”
Having successfully made the step up from being part of a terrific group of underage footballers (he has an Ulster MFC medal from 2011), McVeety has set his sights on success at the highest level.
He says: “it would be huge for the county if Cavan were to go the distance this year and claim the Anglo-Celt Cup.”
He steadfastly refuses to lose sight of Armagh though.
“It’s probably the oldest cliché in the book, but we’re not looking past Armagh. We were favourites going into the game against them a couple of years ago in the Athletic Grounds and things didn’t work out for us that day.”
Victory over Armagh would be a big step in the hunt for the Holy Grail though?
“Definitely, but just one step, all the same,” he said.
“I was only four the last time (1997) won the Ulster (senior) Championship before.
“I remember sitting on my father’s lap in Clones that day. Hopefully I’ll get the chance to be more involved in this year’s Ulster final.”
