The Ulster Club SFC semi-final between Scotstown and Newbridge was abandoned at half-time in the interest of player safety as weather conditions deteriorated in Omagh.
Referee Joe McQuillan made the decision as conditions worsened at wind and rain battered O’Neills Healy Park.
The Monaghan champions held a 1-4 to 0-3 lead at that stage, following a turgid first half that saw both teams struggle to cope with underfoot challenges and the gale that turned this high profile fixture into a lottery Dreadful conditions made creative, expansive and entertaining football an impossibility as both sides struggled to adapt.
A view of the pitch conditions after the abandoment of the AIB Ulster GAA Football Senior Club Championship semi-final match between Scotstown and Newbridge at O’Neill’s Healy Park in Omagh, Tyrone. Photo by Ben McShane/Sportsfile
It was Scotstown who handled the challenging elements more comfortably in the opening stages as they put an aggressive press on the Newbridge kick-out, and going ahead with scores from goalkeeper Rory Beggan, from a 25 metre free, and Mattie Maguire.
The Oak Leaf champions struggled to gain a foothold in the middle third, but they held possession for Eamon Young to get them off the mark in the 11th minute.
They struggled to break down a solid resistance from the Monaghan champions, recycling possession in the face of defensive pressure which forced the breakdown of a series of attacks.
Scotstown survived a difficult period on the back foot to break away again, and in the 13th minute Darren Hughes picked out Mattie Maguire with a searching pass, and the half forward produced a moment of magic, spotting goalkeeper Nathan Rocks off his line to hit the net with a delightful lob.
Newbridge dug deep to get a foothold in the game, and the hard work of Padraig McGrogan and Conor Doherty gave them a spell of sustained pressure.
Sean Young cut in to pick off point, and they had a golden goal chance when Conor McAteer’s shot dropped short, picked up by Callum McGrogan in behind the last defender, but Beggan came to the rescue with the save.
Scotstown defended with discipline as the pressure sustained, conceding just one point in the closing ten minutes of the haf, a second for Sean Young.
An Both’s Max Maguire with Shane McCrogan of Sean O’Leary Newbridge Pic ©INPHO/Dan Clohessy
But they managed just one score themselves in that scrappy spell, a Beggan two-pointer from a 45 metre free with the last kick of the half, sending his side in with a 1-4 to 0-3 interval lead.
M Maguire 1-1, R Beggan 0-3 (1f, 1 tpf).
S Young 0-2, E Young 0-1.
R Beggan; S Treanor, K Hughes D Murray; D Connolly, D Hughes, D McArdle; M McCarville, G McPhillips; Max Maguire, S Carey, J Hamill; Mattie Maguire, J McCarron, F Maguire.
N Rocks; S McAteer, S McGrogan, M McGrogan; Callum McGrogan, Conor McGrogan, P McGrogan; C Doherty, Conleth McGrogan; E Young, M Doherty, C McAteer; P McMullan, S Young, O Doherty.
J McQuillan (Cavan).
