Scotstown have been road-tested says McArdle

By Shaun Casey

TRUAGH always give Scotstown their fill of it when it comes to championship football, and captain Damien McArdle is expecting the same tough challenge in Sunday’s county final.

It’s a repeat of the 2021 decider, which Scotstown won by six points in the end up, and if they get over the line again this weekend, they will have completed the club’s third ever four in a row.

They aren’t looking that far ahead just yet, however ,and are expecting Truagh to push them to the pin of their collars. The Ulster champions certainly won’t be taking them lightly according to their team captain.

“There is a local rivalry there between the two clubs, even going back to last year. We played them down there in the group stages and we were lucky to get out of it, I think we got a two-point win on the day,” McArdle said.

“They always throw everything at us, even thinking back to that 2021 county final, it was nip and tuck the whole way to the end as well, so we know what we’re going to be facing.

“We’ll just have to look at ourselves and try to get the best possible performance out of ourselves on the day.”

David McCague’s men came through a difficult semi-final meeting with Inniskeen, in a repeat of last year’s championship final, to reach the decider with three to spare in the end.

McArdle missed out on that game through injury but expects to be available for selection once again on Sunday. He believes the hard-fought victory over Inniskeen will stand to Scotstown come the final.

“The group stages this year were a wee bit different because we didn’t really get tested but Inniskeen the last day was a good test so we’re shaping up nicely for the final,” McArdle continued.

“You need those tight games, that’s what we saw last year, you need them to set you up for later on down the line and Inniskeen brought us all the way down to the last five minutes.

“You find out a lot about yourself when it comes to the crunch time in games and when you come up with the answers, it’s massive. It gives you a massive amount of relief and belief that you know you’ve been there before, and you’ve done it.

McArdle is one of the more experienced heads in the camp, along with the likes of Rory Beggan, Jack McCarron and the Hughes brothers Darren and Kieran, but Scotstown have been boosted by the influx of a number of talented youngsters.

A few of them played in the successful Ulster campaign last year, while Max Maguire made his Monaghan debut this season. Tommy Mallen started the last day out against Inniskeen, while Sean Óg McElwain came off the bench and also made a good impact.

“The have been brilliant and the boys, they’re only 20 or 21 but they’re very mature and that’s why they are performing the way they are.”