Beggan ready for another County Final
Maitiú Monaghan
Speaking ahead of his 14th Senior Football Championship final, in a row, Rory Beggan is in reflective form.
In the echo-y dressing-rooms at Monaghan’s Centre of Excellence in Cloghan, the Scotstown shot-stopper is asked about all things 2021- the last time Scotstown played Truagh in a county final.
“From what I recall,” Beggan begins, “we had a very bad start, we went four behind.
“After that we began to wrestle a wee bit of control back into the game. It was nip and tuck up until the last five or six minutes.
“They had a goal chance- I might have been out of the goals. Two minutes later, Conor McCarthy tried one from far out, we got the break. It was a tough game, it will be similar this weekend.”
Beggan’s correct that McCarthy’s effort from 40m out looped into the net and did put the final gloss on the scoresheet- but Scotstown had been brilliant in the second half of the 2021 decider.
Of course, so often Scotstown are brilliant in the county final. It is why they’ve won 10 of the last 13 finals and are hoping to win number 11 come Sunday.
However, Beggan is cautious of the threat that Mark Counihan’s Truagh side will pose, and remembered playing against their north county rivals throughout his career.
“I grew up playing against Truagh and Clontibret. They were our rivals when I was underage. The young lads, Tommy Mallen’s age group, had Truagh as a team they played at underage as well.
“All these boys are in university together, we played against each other, and we know each other inside and out.
“I’m hoping we’ll be on the right side of the result this weekend, but it will be a toss of a coin. That’s the nature of the game.
“We’d be favourites, and that’s fair enough,” Beggan accepted with a smile.
The quality in the Scotstown panel is clear to see, with a number of established inter-county stars, including Beggan, 2021 goal-scorer Conor McCarthy, centre-back Ryan O’Toole, and midfielder Michéal McCarville.
Meanwhile, Jack McCarron remains one of the most dangerous footballers in Monaghan. The full-forward can turn on a dime and score from anywhere. On a long list of Scotstown players who need to be marked- McCarron sits at the top.
That spine is ably assisted by retired county stars Kieran and Darren Hughes, as well as a talented generation of young stars breaking through the ranks, most notably Max Maguire and Tommy Mallen.
Their squad depth is also striking; Seán Óg McElwaine, Mark McCaffrey, Shane Carey, and James Hamill all operate at a very high level.
One concern will be the absence of Damian McArdle, who missed the semi-final against Inniskeen.
McArdle has been an ever present in the Scotstown side for years. A tricky corner back, he is often tasked with the biggest man-marking jobs.
Though both Beggan and David McCague remained coy about McArdle’s fitness ahead of this weekend’s decider.
At this stage, participating in the county final has become part of the calendar for Scotstown, but Beggan insists the group continue to treat every final the same way.
“It used to be a case where it was a three week build up to a final, that was worse than the two week build up.
“I enjoy this week, I don’t change anything. I go about my business, working, training. It doesn’t be long passing. Maybe for some of the younger lads it does linger a wee bit, but it doesn’t be long flying in. We know where to avoid this week, we’ve boys down the road as well.
“Every Championship has a different feel to it, different teams and stuff- but we treat it the same. We analyse opposition the same.
“People outside the group will build up this game as ‘the rivalry and Truagh down the road’. For us, it is just about who is in front of us, and how can we beat them.
“Fourteen finals is a great achievement, but we’ve won and lost in that 14. The three we have lost have helped us along the next year, and the year after that. We are looking forward to this weekend,” Beggan added.
When asked, the Scotstown man says sometimes the club has learned more from losing a chance at lifting the Mick Duffy Cup than winning.
Since 2013, they have only lost in three finals; to Clontibret in 2014 and 2019, and to Ballybay in 2022.
“As much as you want to win, you gain a lot from the losses. 2019 was a big one for us. People in our own club even were building up this ‘five-in-a-row', that never entered the thoughts of the players.”
That 2019 decider still looms large in Monaghan footballing folklore- it is after all the last SFC medal that Conor McManus won.
A heavily favoured Scotstown were comfortably beaten in Clones that day, 1-14 to 0-11, with a Rory McGuigan goal down the stretch decisive as the O’Neills pulled ahead.
“There is a lot of hype, that can help the opposition, building a siege mentality.
“As a community and a club, I think we’ve learned to deal with finals better, and 2019 was a big part of that,” he explained.
Although his attention is firmly fixed on this weekend, Beggan welcomed the appointment of John McEntee as Monaghan manager.
McEntee, mastermind of Clontibret’s ambush of Scotstown in 2019, was ratified on Monday evening, has himself spoke about looking forward to working wih the Scotstown players.
“We only heard the rumours in the last day or two. John has a wealth of experience in the Monaghan club scene, any wariness of maybe a manager coming in and not seeing the club championships, John has seen it the last five or six years. He’s done a great job with Inniskeen, won a Championship with Clontibret, he will bring a wealth of experience. I’m looking forward to meeting with him.”