Ulster Under-21 Football Championship: Scotstown made the trip to Creggan, Co. Antrim on Sunday for a much anticipated Ulster Championship Quarter-Final. Omagh St. Enda’s were the opposition in what was the first competitive outing for this Scotstown side since August of last year. The Blues made two changes to their named starting fifteen with Elliot Maguire coming in for Damien McArdle, and Paul Sherlock replacing Cian Mohan. Sherlock made an immediate impression when he collected an Adrian Carbin pass and ran through to register a point after just thirty seconds of play. Mark Treanor added two more points as Scotstown made the most of a slow start from the Tyrone champions. Omagh were dealt a blow midway through the first-half when Turlough Gallagher and Cormac O’Neill picked injuries and had to be replaced. The enforced changes had a positive effect on the Tyrone boys, and they finally got off the mark on nineteen minutes through a Ronan O’Neill pointed free. Omagh began to take control, and within four minutes they had registered two more points to level things. They dominated the remainder of the half, and County star Ronan O’Neill caused problems in the forward line, picking off another point before Christopher Gallagher finished a good team move to the net. Omagh scored two more points before the break to go in at the half-time leading by six points.

Scotstown had the perfect start to the second half when goalkeeper Ryan Clarke failed to deal with a high ball in from James Hamill, and it ended up in the net to halve the deficit. Damien McArdle, who didn’t start due to a slight knock, came off the bench to add some experience in the back line for the Blues. O’Neill pointed a free for Omagh, quickly followed by Kieran Hughes’ first score of the game –both players showing their skills despite both having been in county action the previous evening. Shane Carey was also causing problems for the Omagh defence and he got his first score of the game to narrow the gap to two. Omagh pushed the gap back out to four points, before Carey raced through and finished to the net to bring the Omagh lead back to the minimum. The Blues were creating chances aplenty in what was their best spell of the game and could have had another goal before James Hamill finally got them back on level terms for the first time since the 23rd minute with a good point. Omagh heads didn’t drop, and they worked two more scores from Grugan and Tierney respectively. Rory Beggan was called upon to save a goal-bound effort to keep Scotstown in the game, and within minutes he was at the other end of the field to convert a 45 to narrow the gap again. Kieran Hughes got his second point of the game to leave one point in it going into time added on.
One more chance presented itself before the end, but it was not to be for Scotstown, and the final whistle signalled the end of their long unbeaten run at Under-21 level. Final score: Scotstown 2-8 Omagh St. Enda’s 1-12

Scotstown team: 1. Rory Beggan (0-1), 2. David Caulfield, 3. Ciaran Treanor, 4. Daniel McCarey, 5. Mark Corrigan, 22. Elliot Maguire, 7. Adrian Carbin, 8. Stephen Sherry, 9. James Hamill (1-1), 17. Paul Sherlock (0-1), 11. Mark Treanor (0-2), 12. Shane Carey (1-1), 13. Orin Heaphey, 14. Kieran Hughes (0-2), 15. Conor Caulfield. Subs used: 6. Damien McArdle, 24. Ross McKenna, 26. Sean Mohan.

Allianz League: Monaghan lost their opening game of the 2012 Division Two League campaign against Meath in Navan last Saturday night on a scoreline of 1-9 to 1-15. Four Scotstown players featured, with Darren Hughes captaining the side. Next up are Kildare at St.Tiernach’s Park on Sunday with a 2.30pm throw-in time.

Crawley Cup: The draw for the Reserve Football Championship took place recently, with Scotstown being drawn against Blackhill in the First Round.

Juvenile Championship Draws: The draws for the Juvenile Championship Quarter Finals took place recently and produced some interesting ties for our youngsters. Scotstown Under-16’s have been drawn against Killanny, while the U16 B team will face Rock Emmetts (an amalgamation of Rockcorry and Aghabog). At Under-14 level, we have been pitted against neighbours Truagh, with the U14 B team set to take on Fergal O’Hanlons. Confirmed details of the games have yet to be finalised.

Minors Meeting: Minors meeting in the Complex this Friday, February 10th at 7pm sharp. All welcome.

U14 Information/Registration Night: There will be a Registration and Information Night this Friday, February 10th in the Complex at 7.30pm.This will be for all boy who wish to play Under-14 football in 2012. Registration for the year is €10. All players need to pay this before training and games commence. Training for Under-14’s on Saturday morning, February 11th at 11am at the Kilmore East training grounds.

U12 Information/Registration Night: There will be a Registration and Information Night next Monday, February 13th at 7.30pm in the Complex.
This will be for all boys who wish to play Under-12 football in the coming year (boys born in 2000 and 2001 only). Registration fee for the year is €10, and all players need to pay this before training and games commence. For anyone unable to attend, please contact Eoin McCague on (087)4119547 or Macartan McKenna on (086)3425380.

Re-scheduled Coaching Workshop: The “Bring Back Kicking” Coaching Workshop which was cancelled last month has been rescheduled for Wednesday, February 15th at 7.30pm. The venue will be the Scotstown training grounds at Kilmore East, and the tutor will be Terence McWilliams. This workshop is targeted at all coaches, and is free of charge. Anyone interested in attending please contact Paul O’Connor for more details on (086)8374827 or email  developmentmanager.monaghan@gaa.ie

Registration: Club Membership fees are now due. Please contact Registrar Ronnie McDermott.

Bar Rota: Niall McKenna and Brian McGinnity will be on duty this weekend.

Comhghairdeas: Congratulations and good luck to Seamus McElwain on his new role as Oifigeach Cultúra & Gaeilge Contae Mhuineachain!

Complex Booking: The Sports Complex is available for any type of event, and the Gym is available for any sporting activity. It is important that you to check that the facilities are available and that you book the complex in advance. Arthur King is our contact person to arrange bookings, and his mobile number is (086)8516944.

Conversational Irish: Continues on Tuesday nights at 8.30pm in the Complex – all welcome!

Scotstown Ladies Club Notes:
Congratulations: To Emma McKenna and her team-mates on the Our Ladys,Castleblayney Basketball Team who won the All Ireland Final. This was a great achievement, congratulations to all involved.

Community Games U12 Girls football: Brush off those cobwebs girls, training starts this Sunday the 12th of February in Kilmore for all those girls who will still be 12 after the 31st of July 2012.