WHETHER wanting to impress the new manager, test themselves against the best team in the country or play before a full house at Kingspan Breffni Park, Cavan’s players weren’t lacking for motivation last Sunday.
Yet, for Niall McDermott, an unforgettable occasion carried an extra-special significance.
It was on the first day of the National League last year when McDermott’s season was cut cruelly short, the talented Ballinagh forward withdrawn 25 minutes into Cavan’s clash with Tyrone after suffering a serious groin strain.
He didn’t kick a ball in Breffni blue for the rest of the year and while his county team-mates were putting in the hard yards gearing up for the Ulster Championship, McDermott was struggling through “four or five” rehab sessions a week.
Last Sunday, against All-Ireland champions Dublin in front of 16,000-plus supporters at Breffni Park, his hard work paid off when Mattie McGleenan named him in the starting 15 to face Jim Gavin’s Sky Blue juggernaut.
It may not have been the result Cavan wanted, the Dubs running out winners by seven points, but McDermott converted two frees and looked lively in the first half before being replaced by Paul O’Connor.
“It’s brilliant to get back,” he said.
“I suppose it was a very long year, doing rehab for the whole year and this is what you were looking to get back for.
“I was disappointed to be taken off but it’s brilliant to be back in the fold and involved again. I’ll be working harder now in training to try and nail down a position.”
Despite getting the nod for a starting spot last Sunday, McDermott knows he is still some way off his best, adding: “For a good couple of weeks I was doing four or five sessions a week and then back training.
“I still have to do two or three other sessions along with other training so I’m hoping now in the next two months or so I should be near 100 per cent.”
Getting anything out of the Dubs was always going to be a tough ask, and Cavan go into this Sunday’s clash with neighbours Monaghan in Castleblayney determined to put some points on the board.
The Farneymen got off to a flyer on Saturday night, defeating All-Ireland finalists Mayo in Castlebar, and McDermott says Monaghan’s victory has upped the stakes ahead of this weekend’s game.
He said: “It’s a huge game with them winning.
“They’ll be on four points if they win, that’s a four point turnaround so it’s massive for us, a local derby and we’ll definitely be looking at that as a game we want to win.
“It’s great to be back in Division One but we knew it was going to be a baptism of fire against the Dubs. I thought for a good part of the day we stuck in it but a good few mistakes, bringing the ball into the tackle, cost us a lot and then it allowed them to pick a few scores off.”
