Scotstown last won an Ulster club title in 1989. They beat Tyrone champions Coalisland 2-9 to 0-5 to reach the pinnacle of Ulster football for the fourth time. I was lucky to be there, to enjoy the heyday of Scotstown’s success.
My father Séamus was the chairman of the club at the time. He recalls the post-match hotel celebrations and speaking to the team about the importance of savouring wins like these as they don’t come around very often. Little did he think that it would be 34 years later and the club would still be waiting for another Ulster title.
My granny often cited the seanfhocal 'Imíonn na daoine ach fanann na cnoic' - People leave but the hills remain.
When I think of Scotstown, I think it is apt to swap the word 'hills' with the word 'football 'as it describes the love of GAA in the parish - people leave but football remains.
Over the last 25 years, the population has grown in the parish of Tydavnet and it is considered one of the strongest teams in the county, providing eight senior players to the inter-county panel. There is an expectation that Scotstown should be winning Ulster titles but, as we all know in life, expectation and reality are two very different things.
It’s not as if they haven’t tried, yet since 1989, they haven’t made that breakthrough. Despite losing narrowly in extra-time to Crossmaglen in 2015 and Gaoth Dobhair in 2018, the team have lived in the shadow of that great side that last won the Ulster title.
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For the players, they know this history exceptionally well, as six of the team have famous footballing fathers in the mould of Gerry McCarville, Fergus Caulfield, Cormac Morgan, Niall McKenna, Ray McCarron and Ben Beggan.
“We won that title in 1989 and narrowly lost an All-Ireland Club Ssemi-final to Clann na nGael of Roscommon” said Ben Beggan, father of Rory and a winner of three Ulster Club titles.
“We felt we should have won more Ulster titles, but it didn’t happen. Castleblayney Faughs were getting stronger and it was more difficult to get out of Monaghan”.
Getting out of Monaghan hasn’t been a problem for Scotstown in recent years but winning Ulster has. They meet Derry champions and last year’s Ulster title holders Glen this Sunday with Glen hoping to make it back to an All-Ireland club final , one which they controversially lost last season to Kilmacud Crokes.
Inevitably tactics will play a role and this is one of the big changes that separates the teams of today from the past.
“ There were no tactics then. You got the ball up to the forwards, you looked for Gerry McCarville,” said Ben.
“There is no comparison to the fitness and athleticism that teams have now”
Fitness, strength and conditioning is a given for all teams but keeping possession of the ball now is a must. While it may not lend itself to the most attractive style of play at times, it’s better to have the ball than to lose it.
Managers will not outwardly admit to the tactics they are using and brush them off in post -match interviews, preferring at times to defer to Brian Cody’s Kilkenny line that the Cats didn’t do tactics. But they all do, and we should expect a tactical battle at the weekend.
When these sides met in the Ulster Club quarter-final two years ago, the Monaghan side were hammered 1-18 to 0-12. Malachy O’Rourke’s side put serious pressure on Rory Beggan’s kick-outs flooding midfield to negate his long kick outs, forcing Rory to go short.
Defensively, Scotstown were not disciplined and Glen scored 0-7 from frees with both Darren and Kieran Hughes not having fond memories of that day as they were both sent off.
This year, discipline has been one of the keys to Scotstown’s success, the other has been composure in their decision-making. Tactically, they have employed Rory Beggan as an extra midfielder, while using the much maligned mark as an advantage.
Against Kilcoo in the quarter-final, Kieran Hughes took the mark to level the game. Kilcoo won the next kick-out but a wild kick pass from them, found its way to Hughes once more, who won the ball and was fouled. This allowed Rory Beggan to point the last minute free to win the game for the club.
The mark is also a tactic that Glen have tried to use to score points but although, they won five of them in their semi-final against Naomh Conaill, their execution was poor and let them down. The tactic worked but the wrong player was in charge of putting it over the bar.
“The game is more tactical than before” admitted Scotstown manager David McCague “but we look to our own strengths and what we have to win a game, rather than focussing on the opposition.”
For Glen, it will be interesting to see what way they will approach this game? To date, they have sat back and defended and waited to snare the opposition with turnovers and attack at pace.
More than likely, they will press up on Rory Beggan’s kick-outs once more, willing him to go long. Emmet Bradley and Conor Glass will be confident that they can win the midfield battle but a concern for them is the way Naomh Conaill were able to stop the influence of Ciarán McFaul, Ethan Doherty and Conor Glass. For Glen, rediscovering their form of last season is imperative.
They have not been playing at the same levels so Sunday is a big test for them as to where their hunger lies.
Small moments, though, win big games and inevitably, it is down to the best player getting the ball at the opportune time. Emmet Bradly did it with his fabulous score to break Naomh Conaill’s hearts, Shane Carey gave a perfect ball to the running Conor McCarthy who found space to bring the semi-final to extra-time, Kieran Hughes's catch and Rory Beggan’s composure to score the thundering free to win the quarter-final against Kilcoo.
Isolated, they are all small moments but on reflection, these were what won the games.
There will be plenty of small moments for both sides to win on Sunday and there is a lot on the line for both Glen and Scotstown. Glen want to cement their status as back-to-back Ulster champions, Scotstown players want to finally emerge from the shadow and create their own history.
“It would be everything to me, I’d die happy if Scotstown were to win another Ulster club title,” said Ben. A sentiment a lot of people from the north Monaghan area would echo.
