AIB Ulster Club SFC quarter-final: Kilcoo (Down) 1-8 Scotstown (Monaghan) 0-12
SCOTSTOWN are determined to show they can be a force in Ulster for years to come after Sunday’s stunning last-gasp victory over Kilcoo.
Goalkeeper Rory Beggan slotted over a brilliant free from under the stand to seal a dramatic win in Newry, after the Monaghan champions had trailed by four with 14 minutes left.
But Scotstown battled back into the game in the closing stages, Beggan’s right boot sending them into an Ulster semi-final showdown with Tyrone kingpins Trillick on November 26.
And while An Bhoth haven’t been able to transfer their decade of domestic dominance onto the provincial stage, manager David McCague hopes a bright future lies ahead.
“I was at a primary school competition on Friday, and anyone that needed any sort of reassurance about the future of our club, just had to be there to see the level of ability and the work that’s going on at underage,” he said.
“Our club wants to be in the latter stages of this competition, and we want to be among the teams talked about every year to win this competition.
“We had a lot of belief coming into today. In a lot of quarters, people would’ve said Scotstown were coming to Newry without a chance, but that wasn’t the sense in our dressing room at all.
“From the moment we won the championship three weeks ago, it was always the ambition to win today’s game and get ourselves into the semi-final.”
And the never-say-die attitude that has so long characterised the county side was in evidence again as stalwarts like Beggan, Conor McCarthy, Jack McCarron and the Hughes brothers, Darren and Kieran, helped drag Scotstown across the line.
“Monaghan people, by their nature, are resilient,” said McCague.
“We came in today in the unusual position where we’re underdogs – that hasn’t happened us a lot, so we relished that opportunity to show our self-belief.
“Scotstown people have fierce belief and fierce pride in this team. That’s all we wanted to do today, go out and give a performance that would represent that.”
