THE ULSTER SENIOR club football championship semi final between Newbridge of Derry and Monaghan’s Scotstown was called off at half time after the pitch became unplayable due to poor weather conditions.
Scotstown were 1-4 to 0-3 up at the break but the rain in Healy Park in Omagh was incessant on Saturday and right through Sunday morning and afternoon. As the first half progressed, players’ footing was virtually non-existent and puddles of water appeared on the pitch
Following a meeting of the Ulster CCC on Sunday evening, the refixture was announced to be played at the BOX-IT Athletic Grounds, Armagh next Sunday, 30 November. The game will throw in at 4pm and all tickets bought for the abandoned game remain valid. Brewster Park and Kingspan Breffni have been selected as standby venues.
The wisdom of awarding big games to Healy Park will meanwhile once again come under scrutiny.
Healy Park has many, many things going for it. An army of willing stewards, plentiful parking close to the ground, superb changing facilities and comfort.
But it also has a black square of soft turf that stretches from the 45 metre line at the Killyclogher end of the ground, all the way to the top of the small ‘D’.
When teams bring the ball into this space, they enter a twilight zone. It is, to use a local term, pure ‘glar’ and makes a mess of games.
A goalmouth in Omagh. Dan Clohessy / INPHO
Dan Clohessy / INPHO / INPHO
At half time, with the pitch in distress, Joe McQuillan emerged from the dressing rooms to inspect the sod himself. He then went inside, returning with the two team managers and treated them to a ‘bounce test’ where he would drop a ball onto a particularly sodden area.
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We know the reaction of Scotstown manager David McCague, who was understandably not all that satisfied with the outcome, given his team was in control of the scoreboard on a day when scores were almost impossible to come across.
“Ah, look, the referee has a decision to make in the interest of the safety of players,” said McCague.
“In his opinion, he determined that there were a few patches in the field that weren’t conducive to health and safety and he decided that at half-time and that’s his right to do so and I suppose we have to respect that.
“I suppose like the players on the field, the referee makes the decision, be he right or wrong, we have to stick to the referee’s decision so I respect Joe McQuillan’s decision.”
He added, “I suppose I arrived in Omagh today and we were reassured by the good people in Omagh that they’d prepared the pitch really well and they had and did great work and I suppose there was never any doubt about it.
“In fact, I asked Joe McQuillan did he inspect the pitch beforehand and he said he didn’t so we were happy that when we arrived the pitch was in good shape and ready to play and I think Newbridge did as well.
“Look, that’s the way the cards have fell today, we’re still in the Ulster Championship, so are Newbridge and I suppose both teams were happy with that when they woke up this morning.”
Asked if he felt a level of annoyance, he answered, “Ah look, I’m annoyed that the game wasn’t finished, I am, but I’m delighted it’s still in the Ulster Championship. So look, there’s some sort of mixed emotions in that.
“I suppose for players as well, this is a big part of players’ lives and they’ve put an awful lot on the line over the last two weeks and we make huge demands off them and I suppose they’re delighted from one perspective that those demands will continue but there’s an element of doubt now around where the next game will be, when it will be, will it be Saturday, will it be Sunday.
“But look, we’ll roll with it, we talk about it being adaptable and we’ll roll with the punches as the fella says.”
Pressed on what his own players thought, he answered, “Aye, there was an audible gasp in the dressing room when he told them the game wasn’t going ahead so they were ready, as you understand, they were ready to play.”
Action from the Ulster semi-final. Dan Clohessy / INPHO
Dan Clohessy / INPHO / INPHO
The follow-up question asked if nobody had expressed the view that it was dangerous, to which he answered, “Absolutely not, in fact there were players here that played here in worse. I remember a National League game, Monaghan and Tyrone here a few years ago, it went ahead and it was finished.”
The most enlightening contribution was how McQuillan did not conduct a pitch inspection before the game. The intermediate game between Glenullin and Carrickmacross went to extra-time after Neil McNicholl’s late goal levelled matters at the very end of normal time.
When Glenullin went on to leave Omagh very satisfied with their extra-time victory, the extra wear and tear didn’t help the situation.
Asked after the game about the situation, Ulster Council President Micheál Geoghegan said, “The game was called off because of the referee’s concern for the health and safety of the players, particularly in the second half. The way the conditions deteriorated after 30 minutes on that pitch he said it was getting worse and he feared for player safety in the second half.
“The referee was Joe McQuillan, one of the most experienced referees in the country. His call we trust 100%, that was Joe’s call and he decided to call the game off.”
He went on to add, “The pitch was inspected this morning before the first game. At that stage the forecast was for very, very light rain which was fine.
“The first game went ahead and there were no issues whatsoever. Nobody could have forecast that rain that came in the second half. We live in Ireland, we know it’s winter football, we know the type of weather we can get and unfortunately that’s what happened today. Conditions just got worse.”
Asked as to the wisdom of Healy Park hosting games at this time of year, Geoghegan replied, “You can bring games wherever you like, nobody can forecast what the weather’s going to be. The weather apps earlier were giving us windy conditions, no sign or word of rain, so we can’t forecast what the weather will be.”
Nobody from the Newbridge club would speak to the media afterwards.
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'There were players here that played here in worse' - Ulster semi final abandoned at half-time
LAST UPDATE | 23 Nov 2025
THE ULSTER SENIOR club football championship semi final between Newbridge of Derry and Monaghan’s Scotstown was called off at half time after the pitch became unplayable due to poor weather conditions.
Scotstown were 1-4 to 0-3 up at the break but the rain in Healy Park in Omagh was incessant on Saturday and right through Sunday morning and afternoon. As the first half progressed, players’ footing was virtually non-existent and puddles of water appeared on the pitch
Following a meeting of the Ulster CCC on Sunday evening, the refixture was announced to be played at the BOX-IT Athletic Grounds, Armagh next Sunday, 30 November. The game will throw in at 4pm and all tickets bought for the abandoned game remain valid. Brewster Park and Kingspan Breffni have been selected as standby venues.
The wisdom of awarding big games to Healy Park will meanwhile once again come under scrutiny.
Healy Park has many, many things going for it. An army of willing stewards, plentiful parking close to the ground, superb changing facilities and comfort.
But it also has a black square of soft turf that stretches from the 45 metre line at the Killyclogher end of the ground, all the way to the top of the small ‘D’.
When teams bring the ball into this space, they enter a twilight zone. It is, to use a local term, pure ‘glar’ and makes a mess of games.
At half time, with the pitch in distress, Joe McQuillan emerged from the dressing rooms to inspect the sod himself. He then went inside, returning with the two team managers and treated them to a ‘bounce test’ where he would drop a ball onto a particularly sodden area.
We know the reaction of Scotstown manager David McCague, who was understandably not all that satisfied with the outcome, given his team was in control of the scoreboard on a day when scores were almost impossible to come across.
“Ah, look, the referee has a decision to make in the interest of the safety of players,” said McCague.
“In his opinion, he determined that there were a few patches in the field that weren’t conducive to health and safety and he decided that at half-time and that’s his right to do so and I suppose we have to respect that.
“I suppose like the players on the field, the referee makes the decision, be he right or wrong, we have to stick to the referee’s decision so I respect Joe McQuillan’s decision.”
He added, “I suppose I arrived in Omagh today and we were reassured by the good people in Omagh that they’d prepared the pitch really well and they had and did great work and I suppose there was never any doubt about it.
“Look, that’s the way the cards have fell today, we’re still in the Ulster Championship, so are Newbridge and I suppose both teams were happy with that when they woke up this morning.”
Asked if he felt a level of annoyance, he answered, “Ah look, I’m annoyed that the game wasn’t finished, I am, but I’m delighted it’s still in the Ulster Championship. So look, there’s some sort of mixed emotions in that.
“I suppose for players as well, this is a big part of players’ lives and they’ve put an awful lot on the line over the last two weeks and we make huge demands off them and I suppose they’re delighted from one perspective that those demands will continue but there’s an element of doubt now around where the next game will be, when it will be, will it be Saturday, will it be Sunday.
“But look, we’ll roll with it, we talk about it being adaptable and we’ll roll with the punches as the fella says.”
Pressed on what his own players thought, he answered, “Aye, there was an audible gasp in the dressing room when he told them the game wasn’t going ahead so they were ready, as you understand, they were ready to play.”
The follow-up question asked if nobody had expressed the view that it was dangerous, to which he answered, “Absolutely not, in fact there were players here that played here in worse. I remember a National League game, Monaghan and Tyrone here a few years ago, it went ahead and it was finished.”
The most enlightening contribution was how McQuillan did not conduct a pitch inspection before the game. The intermediate game between Glenullin and Carrickmacross went to extra-time after Neil McNicholl’s late goal levelled matters at the very end of normal time.
When Glenullin went on to leave Omagh very satisfied with their extra-time victory, the extra wear and tear didn’t help the situation.
Asked after the game about the situation, Ulster Council President Micheál Geoghegan said, “The game was called off because of the referee’s concern for the health and safety of the players, particularly in the second half. The way the conditions deteriorated after 30 minutes on that pitch he said it was getting worse and he feared for player safety in the second half.
“The referee was Joe McQuillan, one of the most experienced referees in the country. His call we trust 100%, that was Joe’s call and he decided to call the game off.”
He went on to add, “The pitch was inspected this morning before the first game. At that stage the forecast was for very, very light rain which was fine.
“The first game went ahead and there were no issues whatsoever. Nobody could have forecast that rain that came in the second half. We live in Ireland, we know it’s winter football, we know the type of weather we can get and unfortunately that’s what happened today. Conditions just got worse.”
Asked as to the wisdom of Healy Park hosting games at this time of year, Geoghegan replied, “You can bring games wherever you like, nobody can forecast what the weather’s going to be. The weather apps earlier were giving us windy conditions, no sign or word of rain, so we can’t forecast what the weather will be.”
Nobody from the Newbridge club would speak to the media afterwards.
Updated at 21.31 with details of refixture
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Called Off GAA Gaelic Football