Stubborn Scotstown ‘just found a way’ to secure first Ulster crown since 1989
CHAMPIONS: Scotstown celebrate winning the match. Pic: ©INPHO/Dan Clohessy.
Stay in contention. Keep trying. Put yourself in the frame, again and again. On Saturday, Scotstown finally secured their first Ulster crown in 36 years. It wasn’t a perfect performance but it was a testament to the stubborn refusal to go away.
There is an old truth in sport about the quiet tyranny of averages. From Rory McIlroy to Armagh, sometimes simply getting into a position where you have a chance of winning will be decisive.
Scotstown could have won any of their three previous Ulster final defeats since 2015 and they could have lost last weekend. Their triumph was not destiny, it was dogged accumulation. They returned to the same locked door over and over until it finally yielded.
In front of a 4,845-strong crowd in the Athletic Grounds, Kilcoo lost a third provincial decider in four years. They opted to go against the breeze having won both coin tosses. Scotstown’s strategy against that could have caused them to suffer.
Scarred for a five-goal drumming last season, they did not press out and let Kilcoo go slow to kill the clock. A half-time score of 0-6 to 0-1 suited the Down side just fine. Rory Beggan’s sublime display included 11 points from placed balls and a terrific save to deny Eugune Branagan. It was his two two-point frees that ensured the opening half hour wasn’t cause for panic.
They struggled on their kickout, they let Kilcoo go short with long-range frees against the breeze, they scored just seven points from play, they let a three-point lead in extra-time against 14 men slip, they conceded a free for a breach and a two-pointer for failing to return the ball on the full; they still did enough.
“Just found a way,” said Beggan.
“Everyone there found a way. I’ve never seen a point like the one Kieran Hughes kicked there in the second half, the banana kick, it was unbelievable. That is Kieran Hughes for you. Conor McCarthy’s in extra-time. A lot of men came up clutch today.”
To their credit, the eventual champions kept striving and learned from their mistakes. They tore into the game after half-time in a bid to force Kilcoo to chase. Paul Delvin’s frees from outside the arc brought them back within one until Beggan kicked a sensational free into the teeth of the hostile breeze. Niall Kane had to do similar at the other end before a late Callum Rogers equalised forced extra-time.
A black card for dissent saw Shealan Johnston spend ten minutes on the sideline and the overlap with extra-time proved decisive. Scotstown kicked six points in the first half of extra-time, with substitute Conor McCarthy booming over a first-time beauty from outside the 45m, to give Scotstown a four-point buffer heading into the final period.
Kilcoo went for five two-pointers. Only Seán Óg McCusker slotted one. The rest drifted into the cold locker of regret.
“It has to happen, but it may never happen,” said Beggan.
“You look at Mayo. People were saying it has to happen for Mayo to win an All-Ireland, it doesn’t have to happen. You have to make it happen. That was what this year was about.
“The harsh winter we had after this game last year, asking hard questions of each other, the management asking questions of us and us asking questions of management. We all just got in one boat and rowed the same one. This is where it brought us.”
What does it mean in the context of the wider sport and the new rules? A Beggan is now a structural advantage. It was his boot that placed a gloss on what was otherwise a poor evening’s shooting. Connacht champions St Brigid’s will be particularly alert to fouling outside the arc. One slip there is almost a guaranteed punishment.
And it is another testament to persistence, to sticking at it even when the fashionable instinct is to opt for drastic change. Post-match manager David McCague revealed that he told the squad if they believed they needed a new boss, he was happy to step aside. “He is the only man,” said Beggan. The loyalty ran both ways.
They persisted, refined rather than reinvented. Stalwarts like McCarthy, the Hughes’ brothers and captain Damien McArdle kept at it.
“The new rules have probably suited our players. Defensively, it was about shutting up a bit better. We can’t be as aggressive as we wanted to be. But we have a lot of players there who have had a lot of heartache and they threw themselves on boots today. The young lads came in as a breath of fresh air.” The waiting, the learning and the returning finished. The prize is theirs at last.
P. Devlin 0-8 (2 tpf, 0-3f);S. McCusker 0-3 (1 tp); N. Kane 0-2 (1 tpf); Aaron Morgan, E. Branagan, C. Rogers 0-1 each.
R. Beggan 0-11 (4 tpf, 0-2 45, 0-1f); C. McCarthy 0-3 (1 tp); K. Hughes, M. Maguire 0-2 each; R. O’Toole 0-1.
N. Kane; A, Branagan, R. McEvoy, N. Branagan; M. Rooney, D. Branagan, C. Rogers; Aaron Morgan, Anthony Morgan; C. Doherty, R. Johnston, S. Johnston; P. Devlin, J. Johnston, E. Branagan.
J. Devlin for Anthony Morgan; S. McCusker for J. Johnston (both 46); B. McEvoy for E. Branagan (50); Anthony Morgan for Rooney (70); E. Branagan for D. Branagan (73) Black card: S. Johnston (59-64).
R. Beggan; R. O’Toole, D. Mcardle, D. Murray; D. Connolly, R. Sherlock, M. Maguire; M. McCarville, G. McPhillips; S. Carey, D. Hughes, K. Hughes; M. Maguire, J. McCarron, F. Maguire.
C. McCarthy for F. Maguire (49); K. McKenna for M. Maguire (63); J. Hamill for Carey (Temp, 63-64); M. Maguire for McKenna (70); F. Maguire for M. Maguire (75).
S. Hurson (Tyrone).
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