KEVIN CASSIDY: Scotstown dug deep and got their reward

SCOTSTOWN breathed a huge sigh of relief as Sean Hurson blew his final whistle on Saturday night in Armagh. Ulster title number five was there at last.

The Monaghan champions had the game wrapped up but Kilcoo rallied the troops down the home straight to take the game into extra-time.

At that point you felt that perhaps Kilcoo’s tails were up and the experiences of losing those three finals would perhaps play against Scotstown. Credit to them, they dug deep and got their just reward.

With Kilcoo opting to play against the breeze after winning the toss at the start of the game, things looked to be going in their favour.

The Down champions slowed the game down and although they didn’t score their first point until the 21st minute, Scotstown didn’t score heavily either. Against that strong breeze, Kilcoo would have been happy enough with that.

Things changed after that and you have to hand it to Scotstown in the second half. They really got moving and with some big scores from Kieran Hughes and with those monster frees from Rory Beggan, they looked to have the game wrapped up.

Kilcoo just have a never-say-die attitude. It’s so difficult to keep down and although they were nowhere near their best, they had that fire and desire to drag the game to extra-time.

At this point you thought Scotstown had perhaps blown their chance but, in reality, there was really only one team in it in extra-time. Scotstown steadied the ship to claim that much-awaited Ulster Club title.

For me, there were a few things that swung the tide. Beggan’s kicking was immense, landing 11 points and some of them at vital stages. Conor McCarthy’s introduction was vital as he hit three very important points.

Then you had Scotstown’s young guns and their bench also had a big say on proceedings, giving them energy at vital stages in the game.

Given all that Scotstown have been through over the last number of years, I don’t think there are too many teams who would begrudge them this title because one thing is for sure they have certainly earned it.

I’m sure the victory was celebrated for a few days and rightly so, but I’m also certain that by now focus will have switched to the bigger picture as they hone on the big one.

I have written here on a number of occasions that I felt that whoever will come out of Ulster this year would have a serious opportunity given how the other championships have gone.

The prize on offer now is a semi-final clash with Roscommon kingpins St Brigid’s. As we head into the festive period, I’m sure that’s all that will be on those Scotstown players’ minds.

The challenge now is getting the correct balance over the Christmas holidays in terms of downtime but also keeping the body in the right shape to make sure that you have no regrets on the 4th of January.

Before I sign off, I must pay tribute to a former Donegal player and captain Patrick McBrearty who announced his inter-county retirement this week.

I remember all those years back when a young Patrick came into our squad. From the very first training session, you could see that this boy was a player.

He has had a phenomenal career and he is a top lad to go along with it, so I wish him all the very best in the future.