Ulster Club Senior Football Championship quarter-final: Erne Gaels 0-6 v 0-19 Scotstown
A first-half display full of pace, power and panache saw Scotstown blow away the challenge of Fermanagh champions Erne Gaels in Brewster Park on Saturday evening to set up a mouthwatering Ulster Club SFC semi-final against Kilcoo next weekend.
The tie had been overshadowed by the death of former Erne Gaels player Mark Lyons, a brother of current captain Ryan, which led to the game being rescheduled from its original date of last Sunday.
The Belleek side struggled to replicate the form that had taken them to a first Fermanagh title in 43 years and no doubt a difficult week played a part.
And they also came up against a Scotstown side who were irresistible at times in that first half.
Erne Gaels couldn’t get their hands on the ball as the Monaghan champions dominated the middle third and powered forward to pick off a string of excellent scores.
Conor McCarthy was outstanding in the first half, landing four points from play before adding another two in the second, while Jack McCarron was another who was a real handful for Erne Gaels, contributing seven points in a clinical opening period.
The game was out of Erne Gaels’ reach by the interval as Scotstown led by 11, 0-14 to 0-3, and while they understandably didn’t hit the same heights in the second half, they remained in firm control.
Scotstown manager David McCague admitted that it would have been a tough week and a half for Erne Gaels coming into the game.
“I don’t know how those lads focused on football tonight given the tragedy that befell their community and any support we could give them over the last ten days in terms of the fixture; that’s what the GAA is all about, it’s about the community and family and it’s about respect and we respect the trouble they had,” he said.
He was, though, pleased with that first-half display but feels there is still room for improvement ahead of Kilcoo.
“Look, there is a good focus about our lads and that was evident in the first half performance, but we’ll go through the DVD tomorrow morning and there will be parts we will look to improve as it wasn’t perfect,” he said.
He also acknowledges that the focus has to quickly turn to the challenge of Kilcoo.
“We have only a seven-day turnaround and that is very tough on us.
“Even if our semi-final had been next Sunday, it would have been an extra 24 hours, but we’ll roll with it, we’ll deal with it and we’ll adapt.
“We’ll get back to training on Wednesday night and get ready for the challenge that is coming down the tracks next Saturday against Kilcoo,” he added.
Scotstown dictated things from the outset and ten points on the bounce in an 18-minute spell took the game away from Erne Gaels in the first half.
McCarthy and McCarron were heavily involved in this period while Michael McCarville and Jason Carey also tagged on points to make it 0-11 to 0-1.
Erne Gaels did reply with points from Barry McCann and Shane Rooney but with McCarthy, McCarron and Kieran Hughes firing over for Scotstown they were in complete control by the interval.
Erne Gaels started the second half with quick-fire points from Aogan Kelm and Dan McCann but Scotstown soon imposed themselves on the second half and with McCarthy, McCarron and Shane Carey knocking over they opened up a 0-19 to 0-5 lead by the 48th minute.
With the job done, Scotstown took their foot off the gas in the closing stages and a low-key finish saw Ryan Lyons land the final score with ten minutes to play as the Monaghan champions comfortably progressed.
Erne Gaels manager Declan Bonner said it was a difficult week for his charges but made no excuses for the defeat.
“It’s been a difficult, difficult nine or ten days, to be honest.
“From the highs of winning a first championship in 43 years and then the death of Mark, and that had a real dampener on the whole group.
“We are not using that as an excuse, we would have needed to bring serious energy and a serious performance if we were going to be anywhere near them, we knew that anyway, but ultimately, I thought the lads were very lethargic, especially in that first half.
“We were struggling on our own kickouts. We didn’t bring the level that we brought in the Fermanagh campaign, and we knew that this was going to be a different level against a Scotstown team who are one of the top sides not just in Ulster but who are All-Ireland contenders.
“That is going to be some game between them and Kilcoo next week,” he said.
Erne Gaels
B Ryder; S Mimna, J McCann, U O’Reilly; O Kelm 0-1, P Ward, R Lyons 0-1; M Og McGarrigle, G McGloin; D McCann 0-1, A Kelm 0-1, M Gilfeddar; T McCaffrey, S Rooney 0-1, U Kelm
Subs – B McCann 0-1 for McGloin (20), P Johnston for Gilfeddar (h/t), C Keown for Ward (h/t), O Johnston for Mimna (41), P McCaffrey for O’Reilly (55)
Scotstown
R Beggan; D Murray, K Hughes 0-1, J McKevitt; R O’Toole, D McArdle, C McCarthy 0-6; M McCarville 0-1, G McPhillips; J Carey 0-1, S Carey 0-1 (f), J Hamill; F Maguire, D Hughes, J McCarron 0-8 (4f, 2m)
Subs - M Maguire 0-1 for D Hughes (h/t), M McPhillips for Hamill (41), E Caulfield for F Maguire (50), K McKenna for McCarron (50), D Morgan for K Hughes (53)
Referee: K Eannetta (Tyrone)