HAT-TRICK OF WINS SETS UP BIG DAY OF AIB ULSTER CLUB SEMI FINALS

For the first time in four years, all three Monaghan football champions have qualified for the AIB Ulster Club semi-finals. by COLM SHALVEY

Scotstown, Doohamlet and Rockcorry all picked up excellent results in the provincial championships last Sunday, making it the first time since 2011 – when Latton, Carrickmacross and Cremartin all won their quarter-finals – that Monaghan’s senior, intermediate and junior representatives have all cleared the first hurdle.

Scotstown made headlines well beyond the county by dethroning Ulster champions Slaughtneil in an entertaining game in Clones. Darren Hughes gave a tour de force at full-forward to lead Scotstown to a famous win, exploiting wide open spaces to hit 1-4 in the first half, including 1-2 in the space of three devastating minutes heading towards the interval to give his side a decisive cushion. Having grown accustomed to leading from the front throughout their Monaghan SFC campaign, Scotstown once again held onto their advantage.

Slaughtneil went all the way to the All-Ireland final last March, but their gruelling run came to an earlier end than the Derry side had hoped, despite a spirited second-half showing which saw Paul and Christopher Bradley and substitute Shane McGuigan bring them back into contention. With Conor McCarthy and Orin Heaphey popping up with crucial scores, however, and their defence standing firm to keep yet another clean sheet, Scotstown booked their place in a semi-final against Trillick, where they will fancy their chances of becoming the first Monaghan club to make the final since Clontibret in 1994.

Trillick, whose star players Mattie and Richard Donnelly have close links with Scotstown’s Hughes brothers …