Beggan stars as Scotstown lift Ulster crown once again
Scotstown 0-19 Kilcoo 0-16 (aet)
Rory Beggan inspired Scotstown to triumph with a place-kicking masterclass as they bridged a 36-year gap since their last Ulster Club SFC title.
The Monaghan goalkeeper's 0-11 haul, every point a dead ball special from 45 metres and beyond, saw his side over the line in an engrossing extra-time epic at the Athletic Grounds.
Kilcoo had fought back from eight points behind to force the game to added time, but they couldn’t find a way to break the defiant will of the men from An Both.
Paul Devlin led the fightback with an eight points contribution as they battled desperately to avoid a second successive defeat in the decider, but Scotstown had their own pain to salve and motivation to succeed, having lost three provincial finals in the last ten years.
In the end, a memorable encounter came down to hunger, the dirty ball that was won at clutch moments, and it was Scotstown who made those scrambles for possession count when it mattered most.
Faced with a gale that battered the city end of the Armagh ground, Kilcoo slowed the game down to starve their opponents of possession, Eugene Branagan and Shealan Johnston holding possession to run the clock.
Scotstown had to furiously chase down the man in possession as the Down men moved the ball from side to side between halfway line and the opposition ’45.
But a Darren Hughes intercept, a Ryan O’Toole block and two turnovers from Nicky Sherlock, one of which led to Mattie Maguire’s opening score, gave the Monaghan champions the openings they needed.
Darragh Murray and Damien McArdle stepped in to halt Kilcoo’s patient march, and it was goalkeeper Beggan who stretched the advantage, raising an orange flag with a 45 metre free.
Mattie Maguire landed an excellent point, before his brother Francis got on the end of a move involving Micheal McCarville, Sherlock and Mattie Maguire to fire in a shot at goal, but Niall Kane responded with a fine save.
Kilcoo bunched three attackers on the edge of the small square in an effort to suck in defenders and create space, with Ryan Johnston and Darryl Branagan looking for gaps to burst through, but the Farney men stood firm.
Shot-shy Kilcoo finally registered their first score through Branagan in the 26th minute, and they would have been delighted to trail by just three points as half-time approached.
Rory Beggan scored 11 points
But Beggan landed a monster 60-metre free to give his side a five-point cushion, but not before McArdle demonstrated once again his ranking as one of Ulster football’s top defenders as he frustrated another Kilcoo incursion.
Scotstown led by 0-06 to 0-01 at the interval, and Beggan stretched the advantage from a ’45, moments before coming to his side’s rescue at the other end with a vital save from Eugene Branagan.
The Monaghan men went eight clear through Kieran Hughes, before Kilcoo finally established a spell of control in the middle third, with Darryl Branagan, Aaron Morgan and Miceal Rooney driving them forward.
Paul Devlin kick-started the revival with a two-point free, and followed up with another string of conversions as they trimmed back the deficit to a single point with ten minutes to play.
The introduction of former All-Star Conor McCarthy, battling his way back at the tail-end of an injury-raved season, appeared to have re-ignited the Scotstown challenge as he sent Hughes in for another sliced special.
And they looked as if they had done enough as Beggan’s third two-pointer sent the game into added time with three points separating the sides.
Mícheál McCarville of Scotstown in action against Aaron Morgan of Kilcoo
But Kilcoo refused to panic, and entrusted everything to the composure and experience built up over 15 years on the hard provincial road.
Despite the loss of Shealan Johnston to a black card, Devlin dragged them back with a two-point free, and it was full back McEvoy who charged forward to set up a dramatic 66th-minute equaliser for wing back Callum Rogers.
At 0-12 each, it was on to extra-time, and Kilcoo, having won the toss and elected to face into the strong wind, sparked another frantic Scotstown chase for turnovers.
Beggan obliged again with another two-pointer off the deck, followed by a ’45, and with the ageless Darren Hughes keeping them on the front foot, McCarthy showed all his class with 0-03, including a two-point gem.
Devlin nailed a couple of points at the other end, and at the turnaround, the Monaghan title-holders led by 0-18 to 0-14.
Sean Og McCusker raised an orange flag to close to the gap, but with Gavin McPhillips claiming vital possessions around the middle, Scotstown powered forward for McCarthy to win a free for Beggan to ping another between the posts.
Now they needed to be brave to see it out to the end, and no-one ever doubted the courage of the men from An Both as they claimed a first title since the glory days, when they won three Ulster titles in a row between 1979 and ’80, followed by another in 1989.
Scotstown's win sets up an All-Ireland semi-final clash with St Brigid's of Roscommon.
Scotstown: R Beggan (0-11, 4tpf, 1f, 1’45) ; D Connolly, R O’Toole (0-01), D McArdle; D Murray, D Hughes, K Hughes (0-02) M McCarville, G McPhillips; Max Maguire, S Carey, F Maguire; Mattie Maguire (0-02), J McCarron, N Sherlock.
Subs: C McCarthy (0-03, 1tp) for F Maguire (48), K McKenna for Mattie Maguire (64)
Kilcoo: N Kane (0-02, tpf); A Branagan, R McEvoy, N Branagan; M Rooney, D Branagan, C Rogers (0-01); Aaron Morgan (0-01), Anthony Morgan; C Doherty, R Johnston, S Johnston; P Devlin (0-08, 1tpf, 5f), J Johnston, E Branagan (0-01)
Subs: J Devlin for Anthony Morgan (46), S Og McCusker (0-03, 1tp) for J Johnston (46), B McEvoy for E Branagan (50), Morgan for Rooney (71), E Branagan for D Branagan (73)
Scotstown: R Beggan; D Connolly, R O’Toole, D McArdle; D Murray, D Hughes, K Hughes; M McCarville, G McPhillips; Max Maguire, S Carey, F Maguire; Mattie Maguire, J McCarron, N Sherlock.
Subs: C McCarthy for F Maguire (48), K McKenna for Mattie Maguire (64), E Branagan for D Branagan (73)
Referee: S Hurson (Tyrone).
