ULSTER SFC final
Scotstown v Kilcoo, BOX-it Athletic Grounds, 6.15pm.
TV
Live coverage of the Ulster club football final on TG4 from 6.20pm.
ONLINE
Live updates of the Ulster decider on RTÉ.ie and the RTÉ News app.
RADIO
Live commentary and reports on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
WEATHER
A rather wet and blustery night with widespread spells of rain, heaviest in Atlantic coastal counties. Lowest temperatures of 10 to 12 degrees in fresh to strong and gusty south to southwesterly winds.
Scotstown seeking to end modern hoodoo in Ulster
The always vocal 'So much for the split season!' lobby will inevitably have a field day upon discovering that the Ulster club football final throws in less than a fortnight before Christmas.
The original schedule was blown off-kilter by Joe McQuillan's somewhat contentious decision to call off Scotstown's initial semi-final with Newbridge at half-time, the referee deeming that heavy rainfall had made the pitch unplayable.
The Monaghan champions were in a strong position at the time, leading 1-04 to 0-03 at the break, and could have been forgiven for fearing the worst given their unfortunate modern history in the Ulster club.
They are currently in the midst of their most intense phase of dominance in the Monaghan championship but this yielded a duck in terms of Ulster silverware.
Scotstown have won a whopping 12 Monaghan titles since their last Ulster club triumph in 1989 and have lost three deciders in the past decade, two of which went to extra-time.
In 2015, they reached a first provincial decider since their last triumph in '89, but eventually fell short against Armagh giants Crossmaglen Rangers, who, as it turned out, were then in the twilight of their dominance at provincial level.
In 2018, it seemed their moment had arrived. They were pegged as favourites heading into the Ulster decider against Gaoth Dobhair, not least because of Donegal clubs' strikingly poor record outside the county. However, on a night when veteran Kevin Cassidy was in belligerent mood in the inside forward line, Shane Ferry's extra-time winner saw Scotstown denied yet again in the driving rain at Healy Park.
As if the disappointment wasn't acute enough, they then had to suffer through Gaoth Dobhair's raucous celebrations, which were live-streamed from the pub over the subsequent days.
In 2023, they were edged out by Malachy O'Rourke's Glen, on a mission after the disappointment of losing the All-Ireland decider in controversial fashion the previous January.
The memory of recent disappointments may have loomed large during the titanic second attempt at a semi-final with Newbridge in Armagh.
Comfortably ahead for the most of the game, they surrendered an eight-point lead in the final six minutes of normal time, the Derry champions rattling off 1-05 from the 54th minute onwards.
They appeared to have blown it again in extra-time, making poor use of the wind in the second period of extra-time, with Jack McCarron registering their only score before Conor McAteer's late leveller for Newbridge.
However, having been denied several times over the course of the two weeks, they came good in the shootout, their galactico in goals, Rory Beggan, repelling two shots and scoring one himself as they finally battled their way into another Ulster decider.
Kilcoo seeking to reclaim status as top dogs
Kilcoo, who won a first Down title in 72 years in 2009 and have virtually monopolised it ever since, are seeking a first Ulster club since their All-Ireland winning campaign of 2021-22.
That was a back-to-back triumph following on from their 2019 Ulster title victory, the pandemic having intervened in 2020.
After losing an especially tempestuous All-Ireland decider to three-in-a-row chasing Corofin, recalled for a ruckus in the tunnel at full-time, they went one better the following year, Jerome Johnson's late winner sealing a dramatic win over Kilmacud Crokes in the decider.
In the aftermath, their venerable old manager Mickey Moran was captured kneeling down at the spot in front of the Hill where the goal was scored.
The rest of Ulster - or indeed, Down - did not appear to share in this heart-warming story and there was a fair degree of glee after they were deposed in Ulster the following year by Glen, with Conor Glass, in only vaguely guarded language, lambasted their, ahem, supposed mouthiness, on the pitch.
During their peak years, they were alleged to be disdainful of the inter-county set-up, Eugene Branagan's comments in the wake of their All-Ireland victory not doing much for relations with the rest of the county. Nonetheless, they appear to be more simpatico with the county scene generally now that club stalwart Conor Laverty is directing operations.
In the club off-season, otherwise known as the inter-county season, they managed to draft in Martin Corey as manager, who controversially departed the Meath set-up on the eve of the championship.
Having fully established themselves as the default Down champions, they navigated their way through the county for the 13th time in 14 years, albeit after surviving a scare against Clonduff in the semi-final when a late two-point effort drifted wide.
Edged out by Errigal Ciaran last year, they've made relatively serene progress through Ulster this time around.
They overcame first-time Tyrone champions and neutrals' darlings Loughmacrory in the quarter-final before blasting four goals past Erne Gaels in the semi.
The goals were well spread across the forward line, Shealan Johnson, Ceilum Doherty, Eugene Branagan and Paul Devlin all bagging a goal apiece.
The recent head-to-head record suggests that Kilcoo have the edge, the Down champions having buried Scotstown under a hail of goals last year, hitting five en route to a 11-point win.
