Brolly impish about meeting the neighbours

A SENSE of deja vu? Joe Brolly, already kitted out in his newly-acquired, saturated, Mayo jersey, relaxed against the wall outside the Derry dressing room under the New Stand and pondered yet another National League Final date with neighbours Donegal.

"Boring, boring," quipped Brolly. "It would be nice to be facing Cork for a change."

The Dungiven genius was only kidding but, still, the Ulster Championship hangs like a weight over both counties. Is it good to be meeting so close to the provincial campaign?

Brolly's sense of fun at the prospect of the imminent meeting with Donegal is indicative of the way he plays his football of the way he scored the only goal of the semi-final against Mayo - an irreverent score that effectively buried the westerners' dreams and aspirations.

"That's Joe Brolly for you," said veteran defender Tony Scullion. "Only Joe could score a goal like that, and with his wrong foot as well."

But Scullion is a mite keener about the value of a clash with Donegal in the decider, a repeat of last year's final encounter. "If it is anything like last year's final, then it will be a great spectacle for the GAA. What's wrong with that?"

Nothing.

"Matches between ourselves and Donegal are always close, and I don't expect it to be any different this year. On today's performance, we did the job that was asked of us and you can't complain about an eight-point winning margin," added Scullion.

The delight at making it to another-National Football League Final was evident in the Derry air, the dressing room pervaded by a sense of well-being at a job well done. Captain Henry Downey, indeed, goes along with the opinion that you are better off still in the league than out of it.

The best way to prepare for the Ulster campaign is with hard championship-like matches, and that's what we are going to get," he said.

"I'm happy, delighted actually, that we are into another final. I know Mayo were hit by a lot of injuries, but they also missed a lot of chances - particularly in the first half - and didn't help themselves at all with that," said Downey.

One of the most satisfying elements as far as Downey was concerned was the return of Anthony Tohill. "I'm really glad to see Anthony back again, it is just brilliant to have him back fit and playing football with the team."

The mood in the Mayo camp was, naturally enough, despondent. But midfielder David Brady commented: "If we went out with a full team, we might have done better, but we still gave it our best shot and that's all anyone can do.

"Joe Brolly's goal finished us, really, but the best thing we can do is learn from the experience and get our minds focused on the Connacht championship."

A wise head on young shoulders.