Kilcoo breeze past Scotstown into Ulster Final with five goals and a stellar display

Kilcoo stormed to an 11-point victory over Scotstown on Saturday evening at the Athletic Grounds with a flurry of goals the first two at the end of the first half which were absolute game-changers.

Five was the magic number, but in truth it could have been more for the Magpies as they simply had the measure of the side who beat them in the Ulster Championships at the quarter-final stage last year.

Paul Devlin was replaced on the programme minutes before throw-in and while that might have caused some concern given how instrumental he has been for Kilcoo on the scoring front and late on in close games which this was expected to be, it mattered little as the Magpies had the result in the bag long before the finish.

Considering the torrential rain the night before the pitch was in perfect nick and while a strong wind favoured Kilcoo in the opening half, that didn't deter the Monaghan champions from pressing high forcing some stellar defending.

Aaron Morgan kicked their first effort wide, and while Kilcoo's passing through the hands was excellent and they made the majority of turnovers in a game played at breakneck speed, two more early wides the first from Jerome Johnston and the second from his brother Ryan were chances they might have rued.

Before that second wide Darragh Murray opened the scoring for Scotstown in the eighth minute and Ceilum Doherty set up Anthony Morgan for a well-worked reply a minute later.

Ryan Johnston made up for his miss when he raced through the middle and sent the ball over the bar and Niall Kane made it 0-3 to 0-1 with a '45 that Rory Beggan got a hand to but the shot had too much power on it to prevent it from sailing over the bar.

On 17 minutes a pointed effort from Scotstown's Ryan O'Toole dropped dangerously in front of the Kilcoo goal but Kane swatted away and his defenders cleared but after another Kilcoo wide, Shane Carey made it 0-3 to 0-2 from a free.

Shealan Johnston replied with a lovely score from a long way out but a free converted by Beggan and a Conor McCarthy point seconds later levelled the game at 0-4 each with 22 minutes on the clock.

Traded points between Jerome Johnston (free) and James Hamill kept the sides tied but the last minutes of the half were massive for the Magpies who went into the break seven points to the good.

On 28 minutes Shealan Johnston, set up brilliantly by Ceilum Doherty had a shot on goal well saved by Beggan. The rebound was somehow missed by Anthony Morgan from point-blank range but the ball fell to Jerome whose effort off the ground was once again saved before it was was deflected into his own net by Shane Carey.

Seconds later a shot on goal by Aaron Morgan pounded back into play off the upright and Christopher Rooney was on hand to bury to the net.

Scotstown had another goal opportunity when Ryan O'Toole found Carey directly in front of the Kilcoo net and with a choice of the way to go he kicked straight to Kane who gathered comfortably and Ryan Johnston sent the last score of the half over the bar to make it 2-6 to 0-5 at the break.

It was all over for Scotstown and Kilcoo had complete control of the game five minutes into the second half.

Doherty once again was instrumental in the third goal as he played through for Miceal Rooney who drilled a bullet to the roof of the net, and straight after that it was Doherty’s turn to hit a maximum when Darryl Branagan raced through the middle and set him up for a left-footed finish to the top corner.

That put Karl Lacey’s men 13 points clear and all a shell-shocked Scotstown could do for the remainder of the half was match the Magpies point for point while further goals went a begging for Kilcoo - one for Jerome Johnston and another late on for Doherty who was on his way in acres of space with men waiting leaving Scotstown captain Damien McArdle no option but to take him out and pick up a black card.

The contest was well over by then however, as before that Beggan had moved up into the attack with leaving them open at the back, resulting in a second goal for Rooney on 57 minutes that finished the scoring at 5-10 to 0-14.

MATCH STATS

Kilcoo: Niall Kane (0-1,1'45); Niall Branagan, Ryan McEvoy, Callum Rogers; Miceal Rooney (2-0), Darryl Branagan, Eugene Branagan; Aaron Morgan (0-1), Ryan Johnston (0-2); Jack Devlin, Anthony Morgan (0-1), Shealan Johnston (0-1); Ceilum Doherty (1-0), Jerome Johnston (0-3,1f), Christopher Rooney (1-1)

Subs: Conor Laverty for C Rooney (42mins), Nathan Rogers for Devlin (54mins), MacDarragh Hynes for R Johnston (60mins)

Scotstown: Rory Beggan (0-2, 2f); Darragh Murray (0-2), Kieran Hughes, Jack McDevitt; Ryan O'Toole, Damien McArdle, Conor McCarthy (0-1); Micheal McCarville (0-2), Gavin McPhillips; Jason Carey, Shane Carey (1 (0g)-1,1f), James Hamill (0-1); Francis Maguire, Darren Hughes, Jack McCarron (0-2,1f)

Subs: Mattie Maguire for F Maguire (33mins), Nicky Sherlock for Carey (35mins), Ross McKenna (0-1) for Hamill (42mins), Mark McPhillips (0-1) for G McPhillips (50mins), Emmett Caulfield (0-1) for McDevitt (54mins)

Referee: Sean Hurson (Tyrone)