AIB Ulster Club SFC abandoned due to inclement weather
Shane Carey, Scotstown, and Callum McGrogan and Shea McAteer, Newbridge, in AIB Ulster Club SFC action. Photo by Ben McShane/Sportsfile
By Francis Mooney
The AIB Ulster Club SFC semi-final between Scotstown and Newbridge was abandoned at half-time as wind and rain battered O’Neills Healy Park.
Referee Joe McQuillan made the decision as conditions worsened at the Omagh venue, after making a pitch inspection moments after the players left the field for the interval.
The Monaghan champions held a 1-4 to 0-3 lead at that stage, following a turgid first half that saw both teams struggle to cope with underfoot challenges and the gale that turned this high profile fixture into a lottery
Dreadful conditions made creative, expansive and entertaining football an impossibility as both sides struggled to adapt.
Weather conditions reduced the game to a scrappy encounter as the wind and rain challenged the players’ efforts to produce creative football.
It was Scotstown who established control early on, pressing the opposition kick-out to gain territory, and going ahead with scores from Rory Beggan (free) and Mattie Maguire.
Eamon Young got the Derry champions off the mark in the 11th minute, but they struggled to break down a solid resistance from the Monaghan champions.
In the 13th minute Darren Hughes picked out Mattie Maguire with a searching pass, and the half forward produced a moment of magic, spotting goalkeeper Nathan Rocks off his line to hit the net with a delightful lob.
Newbridge dug deep to get a foothold in the game, and the hard work of Padraig McGrogan and Conor Doherty gave them a spell of sustained pressure.
Sean Young cut in to pick off point, and they had a golden goal chance when Conor McAteer’s shot dropped short, picked up by Callum McGrogan in behind the last defender, but Beggan came to the rescue with the save.
Scotstown defended with discipline as the pressure sustained, conceding just one point in the closing 10 minutes of the half, a second for Sean Young.
But they managed just one score themselves in that scrappy spell, a Beggan two-pointer from a 45 metre free with the last kick of the half, sending his side in with a 1-4 to 0-3 interval lead.
