SCOTSTOWN’S Jack McDevitt isn’t used to losing knockout games in Monaghan. In fact the 2019 final defeat to Clontibret was the first time he has ever experienced a season ending without the Mick Duffy Cup coming home on the team bus.

Motivation wasn’t an issue for the 2020 season then. Dethrone Clontibret and return to the top of the pile. By the end of the season it was mission accomplished, but it was a year like no other for this storied Monaghan club.

The tale is well known by now. The Covid-19 pandemic sent everyone into hibernation for a few months and Colin McAree’s side were left in limbo.

“The motivation was still there after lockdown to get one back, to regain the title,” said McDevitt, who has been part of the senior panel since 2015. “It maybe didn’t have the same ferocity, I suppose, because of the whole situation.

“Boys probably weren’t 100 percent there, myself included, but there was still that motivation there to get at it

“That 2019 final loss was my first knock-out game defeat in Monaghan. There were losses in Ulster too, but that was the first in Monaghan.

“Initially for the first couple of weeks after lockdown ended it was just about getting the legs going again, we didn’t go too mad.

“The physio and strength and conditioning coach had told us that if we were too gung-ho at the start we would end up with injuries. We were eased back into it.”

Fellow player Damien McArdle thought, like many others did, that the 2020 season was going to be a complete write-off, but his manager had other ideas.

“During the pandemic I didn’t think there was going to be any football at all,” he said.

“That was disappointing because obviously getting beat last year had put the hunger back in.

“We broke up the time of the shutdown. We did a few Zoom meetings but there actually was no real individual work.

“McAree seemed to know more than anyone else, he sort of had the notion that the thing was going to go ahead so he got us going individually.

“It’s not as easy to train on your own as it is when someone is beside you, but it was a unique season.”

When it became clear that sport would return, the Monaghan County Board acted emphatically.

The league was cancelled and instead a new round-robin championship format was introduced. It proved so popular that many are hoping that it is retained going forward, no matter the circumstances.

Scotstown were placed in Group B alongside Truagh Gaels, Carrickmacross, Latton and Castleblayney.

“I was excited for the group format. It was something new, something different,” McDevitt continued.

“It was a few more championship games, and that’s always a plus. It will be hopefully be something that the Monaghan County Board will look to in the future because it was so successful.

“There was even a bit of bite about the relegation games. They were interesting as well, so it seemed to be well received.”

Scotstown made their competitive return on July 25 with a 0-17 to 1-12 derby win over Truagh.

What usually would attract a massive crowd was limited to a couple of hundred supporters, although a live stream did offer some consolation for those unable to grab a golden ticket.

Matthew Maguire, Micheal Meehan and Gavin McPhillips all made their Scotstown Senior Championship debuts in what was a close affair.

Truagh led late on, but a red card for Niall McQuillan gave Scotstown the space to rattle off the final three points through Ryan O’Toole, who had an immense season, Conor McCarthy and Shane Carey.

For McArdle it was just great to be back playing, even if the circumstances were somewhat different.

“There was 200 allowed in that day I think,” he said. “You had a championship game at home, which was nice. But it was different.”

“That Truagh game, looking back on it now it was probably our toughest and it was just one of those ones we had to dog out,” McDevitt added.

“It stood to us. We had two or three boys who made their debut in that game so it was good to blood them in.

“The transition play hindered us in that game but the tightness of it definitely stood to us.”

McArdle said that the team was far from happy about their performance in the Truagh match despite the result.

The long lay-off wasn’t used as an excuse by the An Bhoth players and they promised to raise their game for the rest of the round-robin series.

It proved to be a promise kept because they won their next three games and conceded just 0-28 in the process.

McArdle felt that the backline had led the way.

“Funny enough that first day out we were rusty. We had a few things to iron out, but it showed us where we were going wrong.

“This year was probably our best year defensively. We were very tight. I think we only conceded two goals throughout the entire championship.

“Boys were in form and Collie had a good system in place with a lot of hard work. Everyone was working from the forwards back.”

One of the most impressive group results was Scotstown’s 2-15 to 0-7 destruction of Mattie McGleenan’s Carrickmacross.

Carrick’ have been a strong outfit in recent seasons, but two second-half Conor McCarthy goals put the gloss on a totally dominant display.

That was one of four wins that ensured Scotstown topped Group B and as luck would have it, Carrick’ made it through to meet them again in the semi-finals after their narrow quarter-final win over Magheracloone.

Murphy’s Law would suggest that Carrick’ were primed to get their revenge but, again, Scotstown showed their superiority with a 0-17 to 1-6 win.

“Going into the Carrick’ game you didn’t know what to expect having beaten them so well earlier in the season, 14 points or whatever it was,” McArdle said.

“We went and we weathered the storm in the first half. We were only a point up at the break.

“From there we kicked on. We had piles of squad depth all season and that showed again in that match.

“The likes of Michael Meehan and Matthew Maguire and a few others have pushed on and are starting now, and that really helped us in the second half of games especially. Gavin McPhillips is another. It gives you real options.”

McDevitt said that the earlier group meeting had proved beneficial.

“We sort of knew then how Carrick’ would set up against us.

“That helped the group because you don’t usually play the same team twice in the championship unless it’s the final.

“Collie had us honed in on the game and focussed. He made sure we wouldn’t be complacent. A lot of boys were there from the 2014 and ’19 finals (losses to Clontibret) and maybe we were complacent in those two games. There was the experience there then not to be again.

“Darren Hughes, Kieran Hughes, Donal Morgan, they were keeping on boys’ cases so to make sure they were focussed and to not get carried away by the big win earlier. That experience was such a help.”

Scotstown’s placing on the undercard at Clones meant that they were able to take in the second semi-final, and it turned out to be a stone cold classic between Ballybay and Inniskeen.

After 80 minutes plus change, Ballybay made it through to another final after a 4-19 to 1-25 win over an Andrew Woods inspired Grattan’s.

McArdle grimaced at the attacking exploits of the likes of the McGuinness brothers and Paul Finlay, but Ballybay’s porous defence gave him real cause for optimism.

“I thought they were leaking a fair few scores so I had confidence that we could take advantage,” said McArdle, who made his senior debut in 2011.

“I wasn’t too worried until we went and watched the clips of them going forward, then how good they could be started to set in a bit.”

If there had been a delayed reaction to Ballybay’s attacking promise pre-match for McArdle, it didn’t take long to hit home on the day of the final as the Pearse Brothers raced into a 0-4 to 0-1 lead.

The water-break came at the right time for Scotstown and the wrong time for their opponents as McAree’s side were able to use the minute to regain their composure.

They hit a run of scores to lead 0-8 to 0-6 at the interval and, amazingly, they  restricted Ballybay to just a single second-half point with Conor McCarthy’s goal helping them to an emphatic 1-14 to 0-7 win.

It was McArdle’s sixth county medal, and perhaps the side’s best performance in a decider in that time.

“It’s probably one of the best performances we’ve had, obviously better than the ones we lost anyway.

“Everyone had been putting Ballybay up as the team that could beat us in recent years so it’s good to be fit to answer the questions when they come up.

“It was a really enjoyable year to be involved, especially as the new format was so good. It gave lots of players a chance, extra games for them. A strange year, but brilliant for ourselves on the pitch.”

For McDevitt, once again one word proved decisive to their triumph – experience.

“We’re lucky that we still have a lot of boys who have been in all the finals since 2013. We’re also lucky that we have a lot of good young players coming in too.

“There is a cycle there, players still at the top and then those coming into the panel.

“Ballybay came out of the blocks flying but we expected that. We couldn’t get on top of them at all early on.

“These water-breaks are a controversial subject but it came at the right time for us. Paul Sherlock scored a point in and around that time as well and that gave us a real lift too.

“We regrouped, got our breath back and came out and started playing much better.

“Thankfully it worked out and we were able to make up for the loss the year before.”

Normal service resumed – Scotstown are back on top in the Oriel county once again.