Football

Family ties make victory all the more sweet for Scotstown midfielder Darren Hughes

Darren Hughes had a good battle with Eoghan Rua, Coleraine's Ruairi Mooney during Sunday's Ulster Club SFC semi-final showdown in Omagh. Picture by Philip Walsh
Darren Hughes had a good battle with Eoghan Rua, Coleraine's Ruairi Mooney during Sunday's Ulster Club SFC semi-final showdown in Omagh. Picture by Philip Walsh Darren Hughes had a good battle with Eoghan Rua, Coleraine's Ruairi Mooney during Sunday's Ulster Club SFC semi-final showdown in Omagh. Picture by Philip Walsh

WITH three brothers-in-law on the Coleraine panel, Sunday’s Ulster Club semi-final was always going to carry an extra edge for Darren Hughes.

He started like a house on fire, rampaging around the field and launching long, accurate passes into the danger zone as Scotstown seized the early initiative.

His influence may have waned as Eoghan Rua grabbed a foothold in the game but when the men in blue finally scraped across the line, victory was all that mattered.

It was a bitter pill for the Derry champions to swallow, and for Hughes’s brothers-in-law Barry, Eoghan and Paul Daly.

Despite midfielder Paul being ruled out due to injury, Coleraine were still in the box seat heading down the stretch before Allstar goalkeeper Rory Beggan put the seal on an impressive Scotstown comeback, slotting over the winning free in the fifth minute of added time.

“It was,” said Hughes when asked if victory was all the more sweet given his family connections.

“There is no doubt about it, it was always going to be awkward and disappointing for someone after it but I have to admit I am glad I came out the right side if it.

“There was always going to be a winner and loser and the way we won it there at the end, it will be difficult for them to stomach but both teams put in a serious performance and for the neutral I would say it was a great game to watch - full of quality, full of mistakes.

“We did ride our luck a bit but we never panicked - we were confident the clock was on our side. Five minutes is a long time in football.

“I have been on the wrong side in many of those defeats and it was nice to come out the right side.”

From a personal point of view, Hughes admits 2018 has been the best year of his long and distinguished career at club and county level.

The 31-year-old was a central cog in the Monaghan wheel as they reached the All-Ireland semi-final before helping Scotstown to a fourth county title in-a-row.

With a first Ulster triumph since 1989 just one win away, it has already been a year to remember – one that would be all the better if the Seamus McFerran Cup was spending Christmas in Scotstown.

“Yeah, I don’t think there is any doubt about that.

“I suppose the last couple of games with the club I haven’t been great but you get designated roles… but coming off the year with Monaghan, I came into this in good shape.

“The boys were in good shape too; they were chomping at the bit to win four-in-a-row in Monaghan and the five or six of us that came in from the county panel were only too glad to put our shoulder to the wheel.

“These boys want to win and they proved that again here today. I would say that our star men, outside of Rory, did not stand up. We did at times but it is a team game, they take the best out of us and we take the best out of them.”

And, turning his attention to the county scene momentarily, Hughes says he expects veterans Dessie Mone and Vinny Corey to return to the Farney fold for 2019.

“I would say so - sure Dessie has nothing else to do, so he will be back.

“They will weigh it up, Vinny has family commitments but I think it’ll be difficult for him coming off the back of last year, the solid season he had, the level of performance he achieved, to throw in the towel now after 16 years.”