AIB Ulster Club Senior Football Championship semi-final: Scotstown (Monaghan) 2-9 St Macartan’s, Trillick (Tyrone) 2-7
SCOTSTOWN remained true to their ‘pure football’ principles, but needed some improvisation to get them over the line and into a first Ulster Club SFC final since 1989.
When a dogged semi-final required some guile and craft, when players needed to dispense with style, and get themselves into the trenches and dig it out with substance, they had ready-made solutions.
Maybe we had come to expect Mattie McGleenan’s side to protect a lead by stepping up offensive intensity, but yesterday they were forced to win ugly.
Make no mistake about it, for sizeable stretches of this highly entertaining, often gripping contest on a heavy pitch, their creative plays and score-taking were of the highest order, as were Trillick’s.
But the Monaghan men were pressed into survival mode in a frantic final quarter which saw them soak up sustained spells of intense pressure.
That they held the Tyrone champions scoreless for the final 20 minutes demands a reassessment of the depth and nature of the qualities of this Scotstown side.
They do go man for man, playing without a sweeper, but yesterday they proved to the GAA world, and perhaps to themselves, that they can combine true grit with swashbuckling attacking football.
And with a striker of the quality of Darren Hughes, who would blame McGleenan for devising a strategy which plays to his strengths?
Once again, the Monaghan star was a sensation at full forward, scoring both of his side’s goals in a match-winning, man-of-the-match performance.
However, the Farney champions could never shake off a Trillick side that performed with refreshing honesty and immense courage.
Each time Scotstown put daylight between the teams, they found themselves pegged back by either a volley of points or a goal.
Trillick were on their tails right to the finish, and a couple of missed opportunities left them with regrets on a day when they walked tall in an arena which just a year ago- when they were playing intermediate football – would have been unthinkable.
Many performances stood out, such as those of Scotstown wing-back Mark Duffy and his opposite number Niall Donnelly, the influential Hughes brothers and Trillick midfielder Richie Donnelly.
There were personal duels to savour as well, none more so than the sometimes bruising contest between student house-mates Kieran Hughes and Mattie Donnelly, which ended with honours just about even.
In front of a crowd of 3,958, Scotstown had eased into a 0-3 to 0-1 lead by the end of the opening quarter, with Francis Caulfield and James Turley conquering challenging weather conditions to garner first and second phase possession around midfield, and Darren Hughes, Rory Beggan and Conor McCarthy finding the range.
But Trillick displayed stout resistance, with Prionsias O’Kane and Sean Kelly tracking back, and Niall Donnelly throwing himself fearlessly into every challenge, having opened the scoring with a neat point after Niall Gormley’s shot had been charged down by Duffy.
It was the Tyrone men who struck for a goal in the 17th minute, Mattie Donnelly’s defence-splitting pass sending wing back Daniel McDonnell in for a clinical finish.
Three minutes later, Scotstown had a goal back, Darren Hughes punching to the net at the far post from brother Kieran’s left wing cross.
Trillick’s response epitomised the spirit that carried them to a first county title in 29 years, and they hit back for Lee Brennan to bring them level from a free. With Richie Donnelly beginning to give them the edge around midfield, they were looking strong in the closing stages of a first half which ended too quickly form them.
Scotstown led by 1-5 to 1-4 at the break, but Darren Hughes plundered 1-1 inside the opening five minutes of the second half, reacting sharply to bury his shot after a Conor McCarthy effort had come back off a post.
Once again, the Reds hit back, and Niall Gormley darted through a gap in the cover to rifle home a goal, low and firm beyond Beggan’s despairing reach.
Orin Heaphy made it a three-point game, before Richie Donnelly collected a quickly taken free from brother Mattie to land a score from distance, and Gormley narrowed to a single point, but Trillick failed to score in the final 20 minutes.
While Scotstown operate without a sweeper, their work-rate and covering is quite exceptional, and they had men with the mobility to cover the ground between defence and attack and frustrate the Tyrone men.
They got back in numbers to get in blocks and turnovers, and pressure on the man in possession which forced a string of wides.
Scotstown went even longer without registering, until goalkeeper Beggan slotted a long range free between the posts for a stoppage time clincher.
