Monaghan Senior Football Championship Group One: Aughnamullen v Scotstown (today, Aughnamullen, 3pm)
A FIRST county championship loss in three seasons was a shock to the Scotstown system but the reigning Monaghan champions bounced back impressively against Donaghmoyne in the second round of games.
Colin McAree’s side was ambushed by a capable Ballybay outfit on the opening weekend of the two-section league phase of the championship and that 1-12 to 1-10 loss meant Scotstown needed victory in their second game to avoid the prospect of a shock exit before the semi-final stage.
A nine-point victory over Donaghmoyne repaired the damage and now Scotstown will fancy their chances of making the top three (the group winners go to the semi-finals and second and third in each group play-off for the other two spots) with victory today.
“It will be a tight test for us,” said manager McAree.
“We have prepared well and trained well. It’ll not be easy going to Aughnamullen, it’s a small field, but the boys are really looking forward to it.”
Aughnamullen have lost both of their games so far and another defeat will put them out of the running for a semi-final spot. Gabriel Bannigan’s outfit was well beaten in their opener by Clontibret but they battled to the finish against Ballybay before going down to a six-point loss.
“They have a very experienced management team and it’s also a home championship game and everybody will want to put their best foot forward no matter where they are in the competition,” said McAree.
“We’ve been thinking mostly about ourselves and getting our game right but we know that Aughnamullen will be stiff test.
“Micheal Bannigan, Joel Wilson, the Sheridans, the Duffys… They have a lot of really good players and we’ve been saying all year that if they put a full game together for 60 minutes they’re a really, really good side. We’re just hoping that they won’t put it together tomorrow.”
Injuries to experienced players like Kieran Hughes, Paul Sherlock and Jack McDevitt influenced McAree’s decision to blood five new faces for the championship opener against Ballybay. Despite the result, Killian McKenna, Darragh Murray, Sean Trainor, Mark McPhillips and Joey McKenna all came in and impressed for ‘An Bhoth’.
“Losing was a chastening experience,” said McAree.
“It was the first time in three seasons that we’d lost in the championship so it was disappointing but they (Ballybay) fully deserved it. We had a lot of new players making their debuts, the team is evolving all the time and we’re trying to mix the young guys in with the senior players.
“The boys have bounced back and those young lads have done really well. It’s a steep learning curve for them but we need to be bringing those young lads through and that will continue against Aughnamullen.”
Scotstown have won seven of the last nine Monaghan titles and brought through a series of inter-county stars including Rory Beggan, Darren and Kieran Hughes, Conor McCarthy and Shane Carey. McAree says he’ll have a clearer picture of the level his new-look team is operating at after this weekend’s game.
“Losing to Ballybay didn’t derail us,” he said.
“It was an opportunity to say: ‘Look lads, we’ve learned more from defeat than we would have in victory’. It was a good measure for us to see what we needed to do and only time will tell whether it was a ‘wake-up’ call or not. The boys hurt and they’re still hurting from it and we’ll take into the rest of the season with us.”
