Scotstown's focus on the here and now - McCague

David McCague was a second-half substitute when Scotstown lost to Crossmaglen after extra-time in the 2015 Ulster club final and manager when they were edged out in the 2023 decider.

The school principal at St Macartan's in Monaghan remains at the helm of his home club, but insists the lessons of those past losses in the provincial final, nor their last victory in 1989, will have any bearing on Saturday's final with Kilcoo at the Athletic Grounds [18:15 GMT].

Scotstown also came up short in 2018 against Ghaoth Dobhair and while much of the narrative heading into this weekend will focus on An Bhoth's bid to bridge a 36-year gap for Ulster glory, McCabe insists "it's not something we dwell on as a group".

Instead, it's about the here and now for a team that has shown plenty of resilience throughout the championship campaign, whether emerging in extra-time in their county final win against Inniskeen or holding their nerve in an Ulster semi-final penalty shootout against Newbridge.

"The game on Saturday is our 10th championship game and our focus will be on winning game 10 of the 2025 season," a matter-of-fact McCague told BBC Sport NI.

"When the ball is thrown in, nobody will be thinking about 1989 or 2023. It will just be about the next ball and that's to do with the mental strength of the players and focus they bring to it.

"For the people outside the group and supporters, that yearning and hunger will be part of their narrative, but for us, the focus will be just trying to play our best on the day."

Scotstown looked home and hosed on a couple of occasions in their semi-final, leading by 10 points at one stage in normal time, but Derry champions Newbridge fought back to force extra-time and then found another equaliser late on to force penalties.

It was the Monaghan side that came through 4-2 with goalkeeper Rory Beggan scoring and saving, while Darren Hughes showed incredible composure to slot away the decisive kick.

"There's learning in everything and that experience is vital," McCague reflected.

"That will help us, whether on Saturday or down the line - we'll be better for that experience."

Kilcoo are no strangers to this group from Scotstown with the sides set to meet in Ulster for a third straight season.

In 2023, it was the Monaghan side that edged a quarter-final by one point, but last year was a stark contrast as the Magpies hit five goals in an 11-point win.

However, 2025 brings fresh challenges with the advent of Gaelic football's new rules, while new faces also bring a freshness.

One of those will patrol the Kilcoo sideline but is all too familiar to Scotstown with Clontibret native Martin Corey now at the helm of the Down champions, but McCague insists it will be the players who will ultimately decide Saturday's final.

"Martin would have coached a lot of our players with Monaghan," he acknowledged.

"I played with Martin in underage football in Monaghan and at schools level, coached with him at a number of teams.

"When preparing his team, he will have some information that will benefit his players, but it's his players who cross the white line and have to act on the game. Once the game starts, Martin's influence - much like my own - gets less and less."