Almost anyone can lose it all

By Maitíu Monaghan

Kingspan Breffni was cold on Saturday evening. Like, smuggling a hot water bottle in under your coat cold. Colder than a [insert preferred own idiom] even. You get the gist!

Incredibly Gowna were leading Crossmaglen by eight points at the break, and there was a serious buzz around the ground. Almost all of Cavan, it seemed, were willing Gowna to potential victory.

Going into the game as underdogs, few predicted the Cavan champs pressing and hounding the Rangers almost into submission in a dominant first-half performance. Almost.

During the interval, the final song that played out over the clanky stadium tanoy before the teams returned to the turf was Paddy Casey's ‘Saints and Sinners’.

“Anyone can lose it all” bounced the popular opening refrain, only for the music to abruptly cut so the game could restart.

Years watching Monaghan have made me jumpy in such situations.

In sunny Newry in 2021, Monaghan bagged four first half goals against Armagh in the Ulster Championship and led by eight points. But Rian and Oisin O'Neill ended up scoring nine between them, and Monaghan needed a last-gasp Conor McManus winner to get them over the line.

Gowna manager Vinny Corey was a selector for Monaghan that day, and in hindsight I now wonder if, in the dressing room, he allowed that fright to creep quietly into his mind.

Just a minute into the second half, Ryan Donohoe fired the ball into the Crossmaglen net and Gowna led by 11. “No need to worry,” I thought.

A deep sigh of relief.

But to paraphrase Gary Lineker's 'football is a simple game' quote: 30 men chase a ball for 60 minutes, and at the end Cross always win.

That’s why Monaghan have gone and appointed John McEntee from just across the bridge as their new Senior manager.

Crossmaglen and Scotstown - a ferocious prospect on paper.

Gowna did make Cross work for their victory though.

Corey's side have their grievances, and the bit of argie bargie that spilled over after the final whistle had blown, and later onto social media long into the night and early next morning said as much. Maybe more.

Personally, I felt the refereeing was inconsistent, but lets be fair- refereeing decisions didn't turn an 11-point lead into defeat.

I think Gowna just ran out of gas and didn't have the answers when the O'Neills and Cian McConville started kicking up a storm in the second half.

To be doubley fair, few teams do.

When speaking to Scotstown manager David McCague at the launch of the Ulster Club Championships a fortnight before, I asked him if he found it strange that “big teams” weren't in the competition this year.

I was thinking about Kilcoo, Errigal Ciaran, and Glen Maghera.

For some reason I'd completely forgotten about Crossmaglen, perhaps buying into the “Cross can't defend” narrative. In doing so I’d glossed over the fact they team still have unquestionably the most dangerous club forward line in Ulster.

“The reason some of those teams aren't here,” McCague explained, “is because there are better teams in the competition.”

He didn't mention Cross either, although (again with fairness in mind) he did gave an impassioned case for Magherafelt and the threat they’d pose Scotstown.

Building a dynasty

The first time I watched two Monaghan sides play in back-to-back Ulster finals was July 2013.

Wins for both the inter-county Senior and Minors were the cornerstone for a decade of unheralded success for the Farney county (relatively speaking).

The second time was last Sunday, when Truagh and Donaghmoyne's ladies were back-to-back winners in the Ulster Intermediate and Senior Club finals.

Standing outside the dressing-rooms at St. Mary's Park, Killyclogher, the Donaghmoyne side took in the final moments of Truagh's win over Naomh Colomba.

They were gone by the time the trophy was being presented to Truagh captain Eve McKenna, but I'm sure they could hear the commotion as they went through their warm-up on the back field.

Between the games, one neutral asked about Donaghmoyne's prospects against St. Ergnat's of Moneyglass.

The Antrim side are an incredible outfit, but I was dumbfounded to hear the remark, “surely this will be fairly straightforward, Moneyglass are reigning champions”.

Battle-hardened from lessons learned in Cavan the night before, I scoffed. Every team in the province looks up to Donaghmoyne as the team to beat in Ladies football.

Conversations about success begin and end in the rural south Monaghan parish.

Outraged at the suggestion that Donaghmoyne might countenance a loss, I took my seat confident of a Monaghan double.

Then the Fontenoys failed to score for the first 27 minutes.

In a 'Gowna-like' display, Moneyglass dominated the first half, had all the possession and looked for all the world to see like they were going to leave Killyclogher trophy laden.

But Donaghmoyne punished them in an impactful four-minute period entering first half injury-time.

They scored 1-3 on the trot, took a stranglehold of the game, one never relinquished. Efficent.

They say football is a simple game.

As it happens, David McCague was right about Magherafelt - who'd have thought?

The Derry champions gave Scotstown an almighty fright in Clones on Sunday, pushing them all the way to extra-time before the Monaghan champions pulled away.

Even then, Magherafelt almost reeled them in a second time.

A fright, but not a jump-scare.

“It is the measure of Magherafelt that they came out on top of a Newbridge team that we couldn't beat in 60 minutes last year,” the Scotstown manager told the Celt last week. “They took us to penalties, which can be a lottery at times.”

“We're aware of the challenge coming down the tracks to Clones. If we aren't at our best, in fact if we don't raise our game, then we'll have a very short stay in the Championship in 2026.”

Watching the game back, I didn't think Scotstown were at their best.

Certainly, I don't think they “raised their game” from the county final.

So how did they continue to win?

If you watch enough of Scotstown you'll recognise the pattern: a game on a knife edge tipping slightly in their favour. Cool heads and overwhelmingly confident, they methodically wrestle back control until, before you know it, the jig is up.

If they both win their semis, Scotstown would meet Crossmaglen in a mouth-watering final.

Only a fool would write off St. Eunan’s against Scotstown, and Edendork against Crossmaglen, but I’ve never let a lesson learned get in the way of a bold prediction.

Incidentally, Scotstown, the reigning Ulster champions, are joint-second with Burren in the all-time roll of honour - five titles, four silver medals. If they win it again this year, they can go second outright.

With 11 wins and no final losses, there are no prizes for guessing whose number one is.