Senior silverware returns to Scotstown
December 31, 2009The Blues last claimed senior honours back in 1993 but that victory over Ballybay in the senior league final ended the wait to get back up there at the top. Sean McCrudden came in as manager at the beginning of this year and took in both Ronnie McDermott and Niall McKenna as selectors. 2009 was a special year for the club as they celebrated their 50th consecutive year of senior football.
Scotstown is a club with a great tradition and one that wants to be up their challenging each year for the top honours. Niall McKenna, knows that this senior title is important and a big boost to the club.
"It is both important and a major boost - great to get that monkey off our backs of 16 years."
He added: "It is great for a number of the lads because this is their first senior medal. Lads like Nicholas (Corrigan) and Brian (McGinnitty) have been around challenging since they were 16 and finally they have a senior medal."
While it has been a barren spell at senior ranks, Scotstown have always been picking up honours at underage level and working hard in keeping the conveyor belt running and producing young up and coming stars.
"We have won three minor championships and there has been a lot of work put in throughout the club in Scotstown at underage teams and we are hoping it will bear fruit," said McKenna even though he knows too well that this does not automatically mean senior titles.
"We are well aware there is no guarantee of that. We have had minor teams that have won before but we will continue to put in the same effort and hopefully we can turn it into success at senior level."
Not only have the Blues won the Minor championship this year but also landed the Under 21 county title and on top of now claiming the senior league title it has been quite a good year and a good platform heading into 2010 to build on.
"The club had a good year from juvenile up and won a number of important competitions this year. Winning will give the boys confidence but it is now making the next step and the championship is the big one and always has been in Scotstown," he said.
"We all start off in the same position now as last year and there are five or six teams capable of winning the championship and the league showed this year there is very little between those five or six clubs.
"We have a good mix of youth coming on board and boys in the middle of the road around 25 or 26 years of age and a few older boys but there is good competition for places and a good squad here now."
Scotstown lost out at the semi-final stage of the championship at the hands of Latton, which disappointed McKenna but in the management's first year at the helm they have learned a lot and are looking forward to 2010.
"The championship was a disappointment for ourselves, I think you learn from your mistakes and this was our first year in the job so we learned a lot. We know what is expected now - this year maybe was just a bridge too far for the team. We certainly will be going out to win the championship."
The senior league title was the clubs 20th in their history but now their eyes are firmly focused on building on it and making a move in on the Mick Duffy Cup again and taking it back home for the first time since 1993. This year there plans were derailed by Latton, but their league triumph has helped to ease the pain somewhat.
In the final played at Emyvale, Sean McCrudden's team produced a superior second-half performance on top of a three-point half-time lead to ensure that the Owen Ward Cup would be coming back to Scotstown at Ballybay's expense.
The winners got off to a promising start in the game when Darren Hughes struck a free into the wind after two minutes and when David McCague put James Turley through for a point McRudden's men were two in front. Throughout the game centre-back Peter O'Hara had done a superb marking job on Paul Finlay, but it was the Monaghan attacker's frees which brought Ballybay back into the game.
Three minutes from the break, Scotstown landed a crucial blow when corner-back Mark Duffy roamed forward and found himself on the end of possession to burst through and slide the ball past goalkeeper Sean Gorman which gave his side a 1-3 to 0-3 lead at the interval.
From the start of the second-half Scotstown took control, with Brian McGinnitty fisting over a score and Mark McDevitt twice pointing in the opening ten minutes to open up a six-point lead. Finlay tried to stem the for his team with a free a minute later, but McGinnity was again on hand to finish over another score which would be backed up by captain Nicholas Corrigan. Although there were many contenders, Corrigan's performance at half-back over the hour merited the choice for 'Man of the Match' over the hour.
In the closing stages, both sides exchanged scores while Ballybay went in search of a goal that proved too hard to come by against a stern Scotstown defence and it was the latter that grounded out a deserved 1-9 to 0-6 victory to end their 16-year wait for the Owen Ward Cup to return to the St Mary's club.
Scotstown (SFL final v Ballybay): Philip Maguire; Eddie Beggan, Kieran Hughes, Mark Duffy (1-0); Nicholas Corrigan (capt) (0-1), Darren Hughes (0-1, 1f), Donal Morgan; Peter O'Hara (0-1), Francis Caulfield; Daniel McNally, James Turley (0-1), Emmett Caulfield; Brian McGinnitty (0-2), David McCague, Mark McDevitt (0-3). Subs: Colm McElwain, Declan McCarville, Padraig Keenan, Gary McKenna.
The win capped-off a remarkable end to the season for the Scotstown club, after their Under 21 footballers captured Division One League title with a replay win over Castleblayney and the minors cruised to the Division One Championship title with a comfortable victory over Aughnamullen at the start of October.
In what was a thrilling Under 21 decider, Scotstown made better use of their chances to clinch the Division One league title after an exciting climax at O'Neill Park, Clontibret on a score-line of 1-14 to 1-11.
The Blues looked to be in a comfortable position after they'd taken in a 0-8 to 0-4 lead at the break, with James Turley and Peter O'Hara dominating at the centre of the field and Mark McDevitt, Emmet Caulfield, James Turley and Daniel McNally putting up the scores on their opponents.
However, 'Blayney raced out of the traps for the second-half and brought the difference down to the minimum eight minutes into the restart and they eventually took the lead when Martin McElroy fired in a goal in the 47th minute. It meant that Scotstown were left with a two-point deficit to try and overcome in the minutes remaining.
Enter Conor Caulfield. With literally his first touch of the game, the Scotstown substitute gladly got on the end of Mark McDevitt's pass to bury the ball to the back of the net and restore his team's advantage. In the dying stages Emmet Caulfield and McDevitt struck the insurance points, which led the Blues to their title, as a stunned 'Blayney had no response.
Scotstown (U21 Div 1 final v Castleblayney): Rory Beggan; Ciaran Treanor, William Carroll, James Connolly-Hughes; Fintan Treanor, Kieran Hughes, Mark Corrigan; Peter O'Hara, James Turley (0-2); Barry McMeel, Mark Treanor, Emmet Caulfield (0-3); Paul Grant (0-1), Mark McDevitt (0-6, 1f), Daniel McNally (0-2). Subs: Orin Heaphey, Damien McArdle, Conor Caulfield (1-0).
Six of the successful Under 21 team had experienced glory in the Minor Division One Championship final against Aughnamullen in Clones, where two goals from star full-forward Aaron McCarey helped Scotstown to a 3-11 to 1-8 victory.
The Blues were off to the perfect start after just 25 seconds when McCarey landed his first goal after Aughnamullen 'keeper Niall McShane misjudged a speculative shot from the county minor and the ball fell to the net. To Aughnamullen's credit though they responded very well and by the seventh minute they had drawn level with points by Pete Dooney and two from frees by Sean Sheridan.
However, it seemed nothing could stop Aughnamullen from leaking goals to a sharp Scotstown attack line and when McCarey fisted a long-range pass into the path of Shane Carey the centre-forward rifled home to help the would-be victors into a 2-5 to 0-4 lead at half-time.
Early on in the restart Scotstown extended their lead through Mark Clerkin. Moments later Rory Beggan pulled off a fantastic save to deny Aughnamullen's James Keenan a goal and that proved a real turning point, as McCarey fired in a superb goal afterwards which was enough to effectively seal the title on a score-line of 3-11 to 1-8 in favour of the Blues.
Scotstown (MFC final v Aughnamullen): Rory Beggan; Cian Mohan, Ciaran Treanor, David Caulfield; Mark Corrigan, Conor Caulfield, Joseph Carroll; James Hamill (0-1), Stephen Sherry (0-1); Mark Clerkin (0-2), Shane Carey (1-1), Paul Sherlock (0-2); Mark Treanor (0-1), Aaron McCarey (2-2), Damien McArdle. Subs: Ciaran Beggan, Daniel Carey, Pauric Clerkin, Conor Boylan.
Scotstown: 50 years in the
top flight
Gaelic Football in the Scotstown area was played as far back as 1890 but it was on a more or less ad hoc basis with the centre of the activities changing repeatedly and it wasn't until the 1930's that structures were put in place and things became more organised. By JP Graham.
That new thrust meant that teams from the parish began to garner success on the playing fields in official competitions. During the thirties and up until the early 60's there were teams affiliated in Scotstown, Knockatallon and Tydavnet and at various stages all three teams affiliated and at times all three teams competed simultaneously and successfully at senior, junior and under-age level. Teams from their respective areas were based at venues at Kilmore, Sheskin, Drumdart and Killylough, to name but a few. The teams were well organised and local rivalry was fierce. Scotstown made the breakthrough when they won the Dr. Ward Cup in 1933 but Tydavnet were not going to allow them to steal a march, so they re-doubled their efforts and won the Junior Championship in 1935. Further honours came to the area in 1944 when Knockatallon won the Dr. Ward Cup and there were further success during the 40's and 50's. Things GAA wise were still somewhat fragmented in the area with local loyalties still prevalent but all that was to change dramatically from the 60's on and with that change unprecedented success came at all levels. By the end of 1957 the Tydavnet club/team disbanded for want of numbers, and in 1958 their remaining players joined forces with Scotstown.
At this period of Irish Economic life the Celtic Tiger was unimaginable, emigration and social deprivation were rife, and consequently it proved almost impossible to sustain more than one successful team in the parish, despite significant success at minor and under age level, particularly in the Knockatallon area
The dye was cast in 1958 when Scotstown won the Junior championship, defeating Toome in the final and thus regained promotion to senior ranks. That promotion was the catalyst that spawned a whole new era and over the next fifty years the club has competed successfully at senior level and set new records and established firsts in a number of ways. Scotstown had been re-graded junior for 1958 and won the championship with Tommy Moyna as captain. The name Sherry was to figure prominently on that team with no less than six players carrying that surname - Pat, Peter, Johnny, Jimmy, Eddie and another Jimmy who was distinguished from his namesake by his town land, Drumhillock. The others were, Hugh McGuirk, Eamonn Forde, Oliver McCarron, Charlie Sweeney, Sean Hegarty, Owen Roe O'Neill, Brendan O'Neill, Jimmy McCarey and Sean Forde.
The following two years saw Scotstown consolidate and they made the big break through in 1960 when a new name was added to the roll of honour for the senior championship and one that was to be inscribed regularly during the next four decades plus.
For the 1960 season though only two talented players from the Knockatallon club, Owenie Connolly and P McKenna transferred to Scotstown and all their combined efforts along with the work done by the likes of Sean Hegarty and Jimmy Sherry with under age teams bore fruit as the club won its first Senior County Championship.
It wasn't as straightforward as that though as the 1960 senior championship turned out to be one of the most topsy-turvy in the history of the game in the county up until then. Scotstown signalled their intent from the opening round when they had a runaway victory over Donaghmoyne, 6-3 to 3-1 and the reigning champions Ballybay went out to surprise packets Monaghan Harps. However it was from there on that the problems started with Castleblayney defeating Monaghan in the next round but Monaghan Harps lodged an objection on the grounds that former Latton player Seamus McElroy was not eligible to play for Castleblayney. C'Blayney lodged a counter objection and the matter was first of all dealt with at county board level who threw out both objections. Both clubs then appealed to the Ulster Council where both appeals were upheld and following a total of seven objections and appeals from the club concerned the matter came to a conclusion when Castleblayney's appeal was upheld by Central Council. Scotstown meanwhile were waiting in the wings and the county final was not played until December 11th when Scotstown defeated Castleblayney by 1-5 to 1-3 to take the American Cup home for the very first time with the following team: Charlie Sweeney, Mick Boylan, Sean Hegarty, Owenie Connolly, Johnny Sherry (capt.), Hugh McGuirk (vice-captain), Jimmy Sherry, Eddie Sherry, Jimmy Sherry, Brendan O'Neill, Pat Sherry, Owen Roe O'Neill, Proinnsias McKenna, Tony Moyna, Peter Sherry. Subs - Oliver McCarron, Packie Caulfield, Matt McCrudden, Hugh McCrudden, Jim Sewell, Jimmy McCarey, Jim Sherry.
Knockatallon continued fielding a team until about the end of 1962, when emigration finally took its toll and their residue joined Scotstown which made for a situation that footballers from every area of the parish now played with a parish team affiliated under the name of "Scotstown". Further senior Championship success came in 1961 which heralded a whole new dawn for Gaelic football in the parish of Tydavnet and ever since the club has been a major force in Monaghan and Ulster football and a well recognised unit of the association throughout the length and breadth of Ireland. The club contested three further county finals and won three senior leagues in the 60's but they had to wait until 1974 for their next championship success.
Victory in the senior football championship of course launched Scotstown onto the Ulster stage but it wasn't until the early 70s that they began to have an impact at this level. They had taken part in a major tournament in Omagh where they came up against a Bundoran club team managed by Brian McEniff in the final and despite the fact that the Donegal side boasted a series of county players, Scotstown were more than a match for them. That experience spawned the belief that they could now compete on the bigger stage and when they ran the Armagh champions Clan na Gael very close in the 1974 Ulster club championship, Scotstown now believed they were ready to move further up the rankings. That Clan na Gael team included at least six established Armagh senior players like Colm McKinstry and Jim McKerr but they were pushed to the very pin of their collars to deal with these new kids on the block. New talent was now coming through and Scotstown were the pace setters in Monaghan. They were successful again in 1977, that victory was the first of five in a row as they set a new record taking the title in 1978, 1979, 1980 and 1981. They took their eye off the ball in 1982, but came back to win the title again in 1983 and did a three in a row which meant that they had won eight out of the previous nine senior championships which was no mean achievement. This was clearly Scotstown's greatest era because on top of their successes in Monaghan they also won three consecutive Ulster Club Championships in 1978, 1979 and 1980 and came with in an ace of taking an All Ireland club title as well when on St._Patrick's Day 1979, in atrocious weather conditions, they narrowly failed to win the All-Ireland title going down to Nemo Rangers from Cork in a game that is always referred to as "the game in the snow".
There was a whole new breed of Scotstown player that generated this successful run, players who went on to establish themselves as household names not only in Monaghan but on the inter county scene as well. That fantastic run of success by Scotstown was also central to Monaghan's re-emergence as a major footballing force with players like Gerry McCarville, Eugène Sherry, Fergus Caulfield, Sean McCarville, Ray McCarron, Bernie Murray, Seamus McArdle and Gerard McGurk, to name but a few back boning Monaghan's great run of success in the 80s. Indeed at that time it was not unusual to see eight, nine or even ten Scotstown players among the starters on the county team in both national league and championship matches.
They had to wait though until 1989 for their next senior Championship victory which they achieved by defeating Emyvale after a replay, Ballybay again after a replay and then C'Blayney in the final at Clontibret by 1-8 to 0-7. They proceeded to add another Ulster club title to their tally to make for a situation where quite a number of their players now had four Ulster Club medals. The 1980's also saw them add an All Ireland 7 a side title to their CV and Scotstown were now recognized as being among the best club sides in the country. They were not however to repeat their fantastic run of success in the 80s and as those players began to retire from the active scene Scotstown were to struggle somewhat in the honours stakes. Further Championship success came their way in 1992 and 1993 but it was to be all of 16 years before they again took senior silverware when they won the senior league this year.
The glory years saw the Scotstown senior team amass 18 senior League titles, 13 of which were won between 1978 and 1993 with that run including an eight in a row from 1978 to 1985. That period also saw them winning 14 senior football championship titles and four Ulster club titles. The Scotstown star was on the wane somewhat from 1993 as they went through a period of transition and further success at senior level eluded them until this year when they won the senior football league. At one time that would have been unthinkable but Scotstown have used the intervening 16 years well and have put down foundations and roots that will ensure the long-term future of the club well into the next century. If success breeds success then Scotstown has the perfect recipe but an indication of the coming strength of the former kingpins can be gauged from the breakthrough for a senior football league title this year but even more so by the fact that they completed a hat-trick of minor titles this year as well, meaning that there is a talented and committed group of young players ready to bring the blue of Scotstown back to the dizzy heights of county, provincial and All Ireland club success.
While success eluded the club at senior level they did enjoy silverware with their junior and under-age teams, with their juveniles rarely out of the limelight. Apart from winning a record number of Championship and League medals in club competition and the players who helped Monaghan to much needed success especially between 1979 and 1988, Scotstown players also wore the Ulster jersey at Railway Cup level with distinction. Gerry McCarville is the holder of three Railway Cup medals, Gene Sherry and Sean McCarville have one each and the club boasts one All Star, Ray McCarron who picked his up in the heady days of the 80's.
The development of playing fields and facilities has also been a priority with the club. The original St. Mary's Park was purchased in 1954 and having been completely re-developed it is now a top class all-weather playing field that was developed in the 1980's together with and along side a spacious Sports Complex that includes changing facilities. More recently in 1995 the club purchased additional grounds at Kilmore, an earlier rented home of Scotstown football, and developed three further playing fields, training facilities and changing rooms, a facility too that has accommodated county teams before Cloghan became a reality. All these developments were financed at various stages by specific fund raising campaigns a fore runner of which was the famous Scotstown carnival of the 1950's, 60's and 70's which was a great source of funding for club development at that and also a major social event not only for the area but for communities from the county and surrounding counties as well.
Being a complete GAA club Scotstown has always been very active in the cultural activities of the association and Scor teams from the club have garnered success at county, provincial and All Ireland level on a number of occasions. Two people from the club, Mackie and Pauline Rooney, have been central to that success as well as the success of the Scor movement in Monaghan and Ulster and were central to the special Scor dhá Scor celebrations back in March when Scor celebrated its 40th anniversary. Pauline is currently Oifigeach Cultura with Coiste Chontae Mhuineachain.
As already alluded to the club has provided many men and women who have served in various capacities at county committee level as well as Ulster and Central Council but recently the club has achieved a new record and possibly an unique position in the GAA by supplying both a President and an Ard Stiurthoir. Sean McCague served as Uachtaran, Cumann Luthchleas Gael from 2000 to 2003 and Paraic Duffy is now Director General having succeeded Liam Mulvihill in 2008. With all that over the last fifty years it goes without saying that it is only a matter of time before the name Scotstown is up in lights again. A senior championship in 2010 would be the perfect start. Tweet
