Scotstown ‘annoyed’ at abandonment as Newbridge keep their powder dry
IN the era of dynamic warm-ups, timed meals and tactical paralysis, perhaps the only scenario a team won’t plan for is the one that befell Scotstown and Newbridge on Sunday.You expect that if you get a game started, you’ll get it finished.While there were obvious signs that the pitch in Healy Park was starting to struggle.Three minutes before half-time, Newbridge centre-back Conor McGrogan lost the ball in a tackle coming out of defence. The ball hit the ground and didn’t rise up again. Water did instead.But as the teams departed the pitch with Scotstown 1-4 to 0-3 up, there was no immediate indication that the game was in trouble.The first sign was when, with time almost up on the interval, Joe McQuillan from the tunnel armed not by two linesmen and four umpires, but by two officials in long black coats.Having walked and studied different areas of the field, he returned to the changing rooms. Half-time lingered on. It was clear by now that, at the very least, serious discussions were being had.From the heightened sanctuary of the press box some 120 metres away, we can see McQuillan head out through the big steel gates. Then the Newbridge management, then Scotstown’s.Moments later they return together, McQuillan this time armed with a football. The body language of the two managers would be no surprise to anyone with a competitive bone in their body.David McCague’s demeanour left no need for subtitles. Joe was considering calling it and David wasn’t happy. Gary Hetherington and Kevin Brady were, it appeared, on the other side of the debate.It continues until, having walked into the quagmire of the square that runs between the edge of the D and 50 metres from the goal at the town end, Joe McQuillan drops the ball. It dies. The crowd roars. There’s nothing left to be said.Hands are shook. Stewards begin to make the universal sign for ‘that’s it’. By the time the delegation reach the tunnel, the crowd are on their feet and streaming for the exits.Walking on the pitch afterwards, particularly around the affected areas down the middle, it felt like the right call. Whether it should have been made sooner is a pertinent question.Tempers briefly rise in the tunnel, tense words are exchanged. Much ado about nothing. Real life stuff.Scotstown were four points up having played into the teeth of the wind. McCague could only admit that the position they were in was a lot of the reason for their annoyance. “I’d be lying if I said it didn’t [impact], I thought we were in a good position in the game but the game was somewhat of a lottery out there as well.“If we won the first half by four points, there’s nothing saying Newbridge couldn’t have won the second half by five points and at that point we’d have been out of the Ulster Championship.“So in that regard, I don’t think the scoreboard at half-time doesn’t really have any bearing on how I feel at the moment because it’s only half-time and nobody ever wins a game at half-time.”The Scotstown boss had taken a moment to compose himself before the dictaphones went on.In terms of the decision to postpone it, he said they “have to stick to the referee’s decision, so I respect Joe McQuillan’s decision.”He said that he’d asked McQuillan if he’d inspected the pitch before the senior game but took the ‘no’ as a good sign. The pitch had held up well during the intermediate game, but the rain refused to relent for a long time.Pressed ever so gently by The Irish News, he elaborated a bit.“Ah look, I’m annoyed that the game wasn’t finished, I am, but I’m delighted it’s still in the Ulster Championship. So look, there’s some sort of mixed emotions in that.“I suppose for players as well, this is a big part of players’ lives and they’ve put an awful lot on the line over the last two weeks and we make huge demands off them and I suppose they’re delighted from one perspective that those demands will continue but there’s an element of doubt now around where the next game will be, when it will be, will it be Saturday, will it be Sunday. “But look, we’ll roll with it, we talk about it being adaptable and we’ll roll with the punches as the fella says.”Newbridge were keeping their powder dry. Their management didn’t want say anything on it.The fact they were on opposing sides of the fence when it came to the abandonment adds a definite bit of needle to the refixture.When and where it will take place is to be confirmed.
