WITH reigning Ulster and All-Ireland champions Glen gone before the provincial party has even started, Scotstown are among the top contenders to lift the Seamus Mac Ferran Cup – but reputation counts for nothing, warns An Bhoth boss David McCague.
The Monaghan champions, who lifted the Mick Duffy Cup for the ninth time in 12 years last month, narrowly lost out to Malachy O’Rourke’s men in last year’s Ulster final, and will be gunning to go one better this time around.
Not since 1989 - when fathers of some of the current crop were still playing - have Scotstown been crowned kings of Ulster, losing out in three finals during the last decade.
They may never have a better chance but, despite last year’s near miss, McCague is wary of the threat posed by newly-crowned Fermanagh champions Erne Gaels on Sunday.
“We don’t take it for granted, we genuinely don’t,” he said of their latest Monaghan triumph, which came courtesy of victory over Clontibret.
“We enjoy winning, that’s probably what drives fellas on during the course of the year – that sense of enjoyment and satisfaction you get.
“When last year finished, we really parked it. We looked at aspects of our preparation, aspects of our team, where we could really enhance and improve, but really and truly as soon as Christmas was over, it was looking forward.
“You’re always looking to improve your squad depth, and deepen the capacity of our squad. We have some young players in this year who are really driving things on at training, but we won’t know what our capacity’s at until we get to Brewster Park and see how things go.”
Those sentiments were echoed by captain Damien McArdle at last week’s Ulster GAA event in Armagh, with the ghosts of that Glen defeat long banished.
“It’s the same thing, everyone will always focus on the ones you’re beat in, but an Ulster quarter-final, semi-final, there’s just as much heat in it as in an Ulster final.
“You look at the last few years, Ulster teams have gone on and won All-Irelands or been in finals - that’s just the standard you’re at. We’ve come up short in the last five, 10 minutes a couple of times; those are the kind of margins you’re looking at.
“Hopefully it’s something we can put right.”
Scotstown – who added the league title to their haul of silverware at the weekend - have benefitted from the belated return of some of their key men at just the right time too, with Shane Carey having spent time travelling earlier in the year, while Kieran Hughes underwent surgery.
Welcoming Hughes’s brother Darren has been a huge boost too, considering there were no guarantees the 37-year-old would play again this year having fractured his tibia and ruptured his medial collateral ligament in Monaghan’s Ulster Championship defeat to Cavan back in April.
McCague, though, had no doubts his midfield stalwart would return in time for championship.
“Darren’s determination, his focus, his commitment, his diligence, and the hours of individual preparation, very painstaking rehab, he had to be very patient… we’re very lucky with the physio team we have in Monaghan, and in Scotstown, they did amazing work and took great care of him.
“But Darren’s own approach was ultimately the deciding factor. I had no doubts he would be back, it was something we were always looking forward to in the back of our minds, and he’s had a huge impact.
“We really had to bide our time to welcome those boys back, it was almost as if they were with Monaghan, because when the Monaghan players do come back to us the standard of our training definitely increases, we get a real bounce and a buzz from that.
“It wasn’t planned that way, but the timing actually worked out well.”
