Scarlet fever victim Joe Brolly made a miraculous recovery to play the principal role in the mother of all finishes at Casement Park yesterday.

Football's pocket rocket rescued Derry from imminent defeat with a equalising point five minutes into injury time in what was a remarkable encounter. Brolly had been on the pitch only two minutes when he landed the equaliser with his first touch. Modesty prevented the Dungiven man from agreeing that it was the most important point in his prolific career, although there wasn't a Derry supporter present who wouldn't have claimed it to be Derry's greatest point of the decade.

Adrian McGuckin, Derry's joint manager, said it all when he gasped afterwards "Thank God for Joe Brolly".

Brolly was part of a triple substitution made in obvious desperation almost three minutes into lost time and after Cavan had in the previous two minutes dramatically wiped out a five-point deficit with two stunning goals cobbled up from nothing.

The first was low and hard to the net from the penalty spot by top scorer Ronan Carolan.

That controversial penalty came after Larry Reilly was alleged to have been fouled.

The second goal, that seemed destined to crush Derry, came when Dermot McCabe rose above everyone else to box home a Ray Cunningham centre in a crowded goal area.

Brolly was more concerned with the penalty award than his own match-saving point - "that penalty was a scandal, Cavan bring big crowds to Ulster championship matches, Derry don't. It's quite clear there is an agenda there".

The roar that greeted Brolly's point was not as loud as that moments later when it was announced over the PA that the replay is fixed for Breffni Park, Cavan, next Sunday.

But, judging by the immediate reaction of the Derry management to that particular announcement, it would seem that the jury will remain out on the question of venue for the replay. Cavan's bad habits that had lost them so many matches in the past were evident at various times. They were fortunate not to concede more than one first class goal. A bad clearance gave Joe Cassidy a gift of a chance in 18 minutes, only for the Bellaghy man's shot to come back off the post.

Cavan then lost momentum in the third quarter after drawing level with a points from Carolan (twice), Morris and Larry Reilly.

Derry at this stage were finding it difficult to get the ball through to Geoffrey McGonigle and Joe Cassidy, their two-man frontline. And when Derry's first-half goal arrived, the finger had to be pointed at the Cavan defence, especially late call-up Gavin Hartin, who was dispossessed by Dermot Dougan in a sloppy effort. Dougan spotted Cassidy to his right and gave him a footpass which he accepted and shot home into an open net, soccer-style.

Derry went on to lead by 1-8 to 06 at half-time, with their centre back Henry Downey and midfielders Anthony Tohill and Ronan Rocks forming a good foundation.

Cavan, despite excellent work by Jamie Coffey, Larry Reilly - whose pace was often astonishing - and Peter Reilly, along with Dermot McCabe, who started full forward, failed to keep Derry under pressure after they drew level 15 minutes into the second half.

It was at this point that Enda Muldoon kicked what is likely to be the outstanding point of the championship to restore Derry's lead. In fairness to Cavan and the accuracy of Ronan Carolan, they maintained their challenge in the closing minutes, even though they were rewarded over generously with those two goals.

Derry's Adrian McGuckin was relieved to get the draw, although he questioned the decision to have the replay in Breffni Park. "We had expected a home venue in the draw in the first place and now after we have played a draw at a neutral venue we must go to our opponents' home patch. Is that right? I wish somebody would explain it to me.

"However," added McGuckin, "we are better off now than we were over four minutes into injury time.

"We will make a full analysis of the match and then see what we can come up with next Sunday."

And what about the penalty? "I thought it was a very dubious decision. I couldn't believe he (Mick McGrath) gave it. The guy (Larry Reilly) just made a dive for it off the ground."

"It's half-time as they say in soccer and we are back to Breffni," said Cavan manager Val Andrews. "We asked the lads at half-time would they dig deeper and they did. They have great pride in the jersey, what more do you want?"

The Cavan manager admitted, however, that his team had got out of jail.