Scotstown forward Jack McCarron. Photo by Philip Fitzpatrick/Sportsfile
AIB Ulster Club SFC Quarter-Final
Scotstown 0-19 Erne Gaels 0-6
By Gareth Cauldwell at Brewster Park
Monaghan’s Scotstown cruised through to the last four of the Ulster Club SFC following a comprehensive victory over Fermanagh champions Erne Gaels in Brewster Park this evening.
The week leading up to the game had been a difficult one for the Belleek side following the death of Mark Lyons, bother of captain Ryan.
And they struggled to hit the heights of their performance in the Fermanagh decider when they saw off Enniskillen after a replay to land a first title in 43 years.
Scotstown, though, were irresistible in the first half with Conor McCarthy and Jack McCarron giving an exhibition of score taking as they opened up a sizeable advantage that they never looked like relinquishing.
The sides traded points early on as McCarron landed the first of his eight points from a mark only for Oisin Kelm to answer for Erne Gaels.
Dominant at midfield, the pace and power of Scotstown quickly became a key factor in the contest as they went on to rattle off the next ten points.
McCarron notched five of those, including three frees and a mark, while the stylish McCarthy knocked over three points from play with Michael McCarville and Jason Carey also on target for the Monaghan champions to push them into a 0-11 to 0-1 lead by the 22nd minute.
Substitute Barry McCann and Shane Rooney managed to tag on points for Erne Gaels, but with Kieran Hughes, McCarron and McCarthy all landing fine scores from play, Scotstown went in at the interval with a commanding 0-14 to 0-3 lead.
Erne Gaels got the start to the second half that they would have wanted as Aogan Kelm and Dan McCann hit points in the opening two minutes, but Scotstown replied with points from McCarthy, McCarron and Shane Carey to make it 0-17 to 0-5 by the 41st minute.
The Scotstown levels understandably dropped in the second half, but McCarthy brought his tally to six points before substitute Mattie Maguire tagged on a point to push the gap out to 14-points.
Ryan Lyons did knock over a point for Erne Gaels in response, but this was only a consolation point for the Belleek outfit as Scotstown set up an intriguing semi-final clash with Down champions Kilcoo next Saturday.
Scorers for Scotstown: J McCarron 0-8 (4fs, 2m), C McCarthy 0-6, M McCarville 0-1, S Carey 0-1 (f), J Carey 0-1, K Hughes 0-1, M Maguire 0-1.
Scorers for Erne Gaels: O Kelm 0-1, B McCann 0-1, S Rooney 0-1, A Kelm 0-1, D McCann 0-1, R Lyons 0-1
Scotstown: R Beggan; D Murray, K Hughes, J McKevitt; R O’Toole, D McArdle, C McCarthy; M McCarville, G McPhillips; J Carey, S Carey, J Hamill; F Maguire, D Hughes, J McCarron.
Subs: M Maguire for D Hughes (HT), M McPhillips for Hamill (41), E Caulfield for F Maguire (50), K McKenna for McCarron (50), D Morgan for K Hughes (53).
Erne Gaels: B Ryder; S Mimna, J McCann, U O’Reilly; O Kelm, P Ward, R Lyons; M Og McGarrigle, G McGloin; D McCann, A Kelm, M Gilfeddar; T McCaffrey, S Rooney, U Kelm.
Subs: B McCann for McGloin (20), P Johnston for Gilfeddar (h/t), C Keown for Ward (h/t), O Johnston for Mimna (41), P McCaffrey for O’Reilly (55).
Referee: K Eannetta (Tyrone).
