Who dares mention provincial pain to Scotstown?

Since 2013, the Monaghan kingpins have annexed 10 county titles but are still trying to break their Ulster Championship hoodoo. The last thing they need is anyone questioning their intestinal fortitude

Scotstown's Mícheál McCarville under pressure from Kilcoo's Darryl Branagan in last year's Ulster Club SFC semi final at Box-IT Athletic Grounds in Armagh. Pic: Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile

IT’S hard to imagine Scotstown’s pursuit of Ulster glory being compared to the late Lithuanian-American tennis player Vitas Gerulaitis but here we are.

As is his wont, Joe Brolly has used a run of weekly Gaelic Life columns to focus on one particular issue. In recent weeks, that has been to take aim at this particular batch of Scotstown players as they prepare for Saturday’s Ulster Club SFC decider against Kilcoo in Armagh.

Prior to Scotstown’s dramatic penalty shoot-out semi-final win over Newbridge, the Derry provoker lambasted the side’s inability to turn county currency into provincial triumph.

From 2013 on, ‘An Bhoth’ have won 10 county titles and zero Ulster titles – although that tenth attempt is still in progress.

“I fancy Newbridge, as I fancy any decent team against Scotstown, who clearly have the artillery and the heritage, but not the crucial bit,” Brolly penned ahead of the semi-final.

He went onto chat about Gerulaitis and wondered could Scotstown harness the spirit of the player who, in January 1980 after 16 losses in a row to Jimmy Connors, declared “let that be a lesson to you all. No one beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row.”

After winning that climactic semi-final, Brolly said “Scotstown have one more game to fulfil the Gerulaitis prophecy…They (Kilcoo) perform because for them it is a matter of life and death. Can Scotstown find this quality somewhere deep inside?”

Imagine they had lost the penalty shoot-out...

Harsh as they may be, Brolly’s words carry a bit of weight. Scotstown are a club with high expectations. Fail to reach those and the shadow of the past stretches ever longer.

When Gerulaitis was uttering the words that would go down in sporting legend, the reigning Ulster champions were Scotstown. A few months later they would retain the title with victory over Antrim’s St John’s - who they also defeated in the ’78 decider - to complete the second-ever Ulster three-in-a-row.

Another Ulster triumph in 1989 means that only Down club Burren and Armagh’s Crossmaglen stand above them in the roll of honour.

POSTER BOY: Vitas Gerulaitis.

“Unless you win the All-Ireland Club Championship, there will always be somebody giving out somewhere,” former captain James Turley said of the weight of internal expectation.

The former Monaghan midfielder was somewhat insulated from those tales of lore growing up. With his parents hailing from outside the parish and soccer his sport of choice early on, the sheer weight of those accomplishments only became clear later on. With a teamsheet containing surnames like McCarron, Morgan, McCarville and Caulfield, most of Turley’s teammates were exposed to those exploits from the crib.

It’s understandable then, that the pressure of winning Ulster exists. However, row back to 2012, and there was an even greater pressure on the senior team as they couldn’t even get out of their county.

When Scotstown – with Gerry McCarville claiming a record 12th county title – edged out Clonitibret in Ballybay in 1993, the thought that it would be another 20 years before the Mick Duffy Cup returned would have been dismissed as utterly ludicrous.

That’s how long it took though, with that road to the top looking as long and winding as ever in 2012 as Jack McCarron, now playing in Scotstown blue, starred as a Currin side recently up to senior football for the first time shocked them in the championship. Scotstown rebounded to reach the semi-final, but another year, another empty trophy cabinet.

“It was a very tough 20 years for Scotstown,” Turley said.

“The next county final we got to (after 1993) was 2004. I was playing with the minors before the game and the seniors got well beaten in that final by Magheracloone, and that sort of set the scene.

“It wasn’t as if we’d given up the ghost, there were a lot of players with a lot of heart, but we just probably didn’t have the natural talent to get over any sort of line; we were doing well to stay up in Monaghan at stages.

“Fast-forward a wee bit and we got to the league final in 2009 and that win (against Ballybay) was big, that took a lot of the pressure off because the club hadn’t won anything at senior since 1993.

“After that we fancied ourselves, it gave us confidence and we started making semi-finals and finals.

Scotstown captain Damien McArdle lifts the Mick McDuffy cup after their county final win over John McEntee's Inniskeen. Pic: Philip Fitzpatrick/Sportsfile

“To finally win in 2013, to win that first championship in 20 years, I suppose it just ended that negativity that had been built up.”

Scotstown surrendered the title to a Conor McManus-inspired Clontibret, but since then they have reached all 11 Monaghan finals, lifting the trophy on nine occasions.

Understandably, Ulster is – and has been for a long time – the target. Ever since many of the current squad first experienced the provincial club arena in 2013, in truth.

“We got into Europe in 2013, but like Madden and Loughmacrory this year it was bonus territory; we lost to Ballinderry by a point and they went on to win Ulster, so from there we knew we weren’t far away.”

Three Ulster final defeats since have underlined that fact. In 2015, Rory Beggan missed a free to win it with Crossmaglen powering clear in extra-time - current manager David McCague in from the bench in time for that agonising miss.

In 2018, the Oriel side were left fuming at the Healy Park pitch as a muddy patch halted a crucial attack late on in another extra-time defeat, this time to Gaoth Dobhair.

Two years ago, they were edged out by warm favourites Glen who went all the way to All-Ireland glory.

Some will carry that baggage into the game with Kilcoo, others won’t.

Tommy Mallen, Max Maguire, Donnchadh Connolly, Sean Óg McElwain and Nicky Sherlock are all youngsters who are preparing for their first final.

“David McCague was the club’s juvenile officer 10 years ago and lot of the young players coming through this year are the fruition of his work,” Turley continued.

“They have pace and energy and the will to win, and a lot of credit has to go to David and all the other volunteers for setting those standards. He is reaping the rewards of that hard work.

“They won’t be fazed nor should they because they’ve been brilliant all year.

“We’ve been in these positions before, we didn’t win and we woke up the next day and the sun still rose. We got on with it and we came back again.”

If the Gerulaitis prophecy comes to pass, that Sunday morning sunrise will bring a little bit of extra warmth.