Loup boss McVey hails McNulty’s impact

LOUP manager Declan McVey has hailed the work of coach Gerard McNulty after his side’s vital win over Steelstown gives them a chance of making the knock-out stages.

After a draw with Ballinascreen, Loup were on the wrong end of a heavy Newbridge defeat to leave last weekend’s game a vital hour as the Derry Senior Championship heads towards the business end.

A goal from Dara Joe Martin helped them to a 1-11 to 0-11 victory following a determined performance that stopped their opponents building any momentum.

“We aren’t getting carried away with winning one game of football,” said McVey, a former player who took over as manager in mid-season.

“However, for the development of this team, it was important to come to Owenbeg and win what was a big game in the context of where we currently are. If we lost we were out, simple as.”

McNulty and his brother Thomas, who were involved in Creggan’s 2021 Antrim winning season, came on board when McVey stepped in and he said they are “very fortunate” to have them involved.

“Gerard is one of the best coaches around,” McVey added. “The players love working with him and he brings an unbelievable energy and enthusiasm to training every night. His knowledge of football is second to none and he is meticulous in all aspects of coaching.”

McVey was a championship winner when Loup last won the John McLaughlin Cup in 2009 with their last final appearance a defeat to Sleacht Néill during the Mickey Moran’s run of four successive titles.

The gusto with which McVey celebrated Saturday’s win spoke a thousand words. They had the cut of a team who targeted their performance of the season after coming in on the back of a heavy defeat.

“It was a big step in the right direction for us,” McVey said. “We’re fully aware where we’re currently at in terms of our development.

“We’re trying to get back up to a level where we were at in previous years. The last couple of weeks (before the Steelstown game) were very, very tough.

“We thought we had prepared for Newbridge very, very well. We had done everything right, we felt we had our match-ups right but Newbridge, to be fair to them, just operated on a completely different level.

“We play Lavey now in two weeks and it’s a big game again. I’m sure Lavey were watching us as well. They were probably at our match two weeks ago against Newbridge as well.

“We expect to win the match and I’m sure Lavey are expecting to win it as well,” said McVey.

“I watched them against Newbridge and Ballinascreen and a couple of times this year in the league. They’re a lot of good players and they’re well set up but that’s the challenge we face.”