In a lot of clubs, even those used to success, a new management team coming in and winning a county title lost the previous season would set themselves up for something of a grace period.
Ulster would become that oft-repeated ‘bonus territory’ where the trees are bare and the pitches are firm from a winter freeze rather than a summer breeze.
But some clubs are different, where history, both ancient and modern, creates an expectation of success, whenever, wherever.
Scotstown is a club like that. With four Ulster senior titles and 23 in Monaghan, including eight in the past decade, An Bhoth expects.
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So manager David McCague knew after leading his home club to the Farney title in 2023 that more was required. They made it all the way to the provincial final where they lost to eventual All-Ireland champions Glen and when 2024 came around nothing had changed. Go out there and win the next match.
Another Monaghan title and an Ulster quarter-final win over Erne Gaels later and the next match is a provincial semi-final clash with Kilcoo, a repeat of last year’s dramatic quarter-final clash Scotstown won with the last kick of the game.
“We want to win every game,” said McCague.
“If it’s an U12 Division Six game we want to win that, if it’s an U18 or junior B championship we want to win that, if it’s a Monaghan senior championship we want to win that and, similarly, in the Ulster competition we want to win the next game there too.
“That’s a real privilege for us and it’s largely down to the ambition of the players and the ambition of the club overall.
“Football means absolutely everything in Scotstown, there’s nothing else really talked about, there’s not an awful lot else to do, it defines who we are.
“The wellbeing of the whole community is dependent on the performance of the football team. That’s a pressure and a privilege that the boys embrace and in my role as manager I feel a large sense of responsibility in that regard. But the club do take that on and we welcome it.”
Scotstown eased into Saturday night’s BOX-IT Athletic Grounds tie with a 0-19 to 0-6 win over Fermanagh champions Erne Gaels in Enniskillen at the weekend, a match pushed back a week after the death of former Erne Gaels player Mark Lyons, a brother of current captain Ryan.
It left Scotstown just a week to prepare to face a Kilcoo side who thumped Burren to win their sixth successive Down SFC before a two-point win over Cavan champions Crosserlough in their Ulster opener.
“In an ideal world you’d want more than a week to prepare for a challenge like Kilcoo but we don’t live in an ideal world and we’ve got to adapt and evolve with it,” said McCague.
“It just puts a wee bit of pressure on the analysis we might do on the opposition and how much we can get crammed into really only one training session this week.
“From that point of view it definitely puts a bit of pressure on but it’s pressure you welcome and you’re glad of these opportunities.”
That training session comes tonight and McCague is hopeful of having full panel at his disposal as Scotstown bid to book a final place against Errigal Ciaran or Clann Eireann.
“We gave them a few days off to recover and nothing that came out of the Erne Gaels game that alarmed us, so we’re hoping everyone reports for duty,” he said.
