Gaoth Dobhair end 43-year wait for Ulster crown
SEVEN weeks ago the Scotstown players travelled to Gaoth Dobhair for a stag party, a week after becoming four-in-a-row Monaghan champions, and laid bare their Ulster title ambitions.
Their convivial hosts hadn’t even won the Donegal title at that stage and weren’t harbouring any loftier ambitions than trying to win their county championship for the first time in 12 years.
Fast forward to yesterday in Healy Park and look at the curious turn of events.
Scotstown, seasoned in the Ulster club environment and seemingly next in line to succeed Slaughtneil as provincial champions, beaten after extra-time in an Ulster final for the second time in four years (Crossmaglen also winning by a point in 2015).
All-Star goalkeeper Rory Beggan’s fairytale year also ended on a sour note. He had a chance to take the game to a second bout of extra-time, but his 45 fell short.
A few moments later Gaoth Dobhair were celebrating becoming the first Donegal club to be crowned Ulster SFC champions since 1975.
‘It’s a special feeling, we have looked on for years and years and it was nearly something you dreamt of,’ said former Donegal All-Ireland-winning defender Eamon McGee.
‘It was like a World Cup final, and you’ll never play in a World Cup final! That’s how far away it seemed to us.
‘I suppose we used our experience well this year but the younger boys, I couldn’t credit them enough.
‘They won an Ulster U21 club title earlier this year and they brought the drive and the ambition to us, because they were never happy with winning a county Championship. We won it in 2006 and we were happy enough. They weren’t.’
The sides were level at 0-11 at the end of normal time, though there was a huge call made deep into stoppage time which prevented it from being ended right there.
Micheal Carroll thought he’d nailed the winner but referee Noel Mooney disallowed the score for a throw ball by Odhrán McFadden-Ferry in the build-up. A contentious call, but TV replays showed it to be the correct one.
So, Scotstown, who had led by two at 0-11 to 0-9 with five minutes to go, survived but failed to make the most of the reprieve.
Shane Carey received a straight red card in the ninth-minute of extra time with his team leading by a point. He’d scored six points and his loss was a seismic blow.
‘I felt it was very harsh in a game of that magnitude,’ said Scotstown boss Kieran Donnelly.
‘It was maybe the linesman who called it for a strike to the head. I felt it wasn’t to the head.
‘You have to be very sure in a game like an Ulster final where fellas have trained four or five nights a week. Shane was devastated, he’s not even a dirty player. To make a call like that was massive.
‘There are things we could have done better as well so it wasn’t all down to that, but it was a big turning point.’
Both sides finished with 14 with McGee sent-off late on for two yellows. His dismissal was irrelevant — Carey’s wasn’t.
Five times level in the first half, Scotstown appeared to steal a march in the third quarter.
They scored three points on the bounce through two Carey frees and a Conor McCarthy point to move 0-8 to 0-5 ahead. In the context of the game, a three-point lead looked massive but Gaoth Dobhair had other ideas.
While Cian Mulligan and Daire Ó Baoill were well held, Kevin Cassidy was superb on the edge of the square and Odhrán Mac Niallais had a big influence despite also being well marked.
It was he who finally shook off Damien McArdle to score the equaliser with one minute to go before the late drama of Carroll’s disallowed point took it to extra time.
Although it was a far greater tactical battle than either of their respective semi-final victories, it was a high quality contest.
Next up will be All-Ireland champions Corofin but first, the party. It could be a long one.