Seán Moran talks to a player at the heart of Sligo's centrefield who hopes they can finally open that elusive door

A fixture in Sligo's centrefield, Paul Durcan's career spans an ocean of time. Eleven years ago, he took to the field to face Leitrim. Connacht football was a different place. Leitrim were on the rise, John O'Mahony was still in charge of Mayo and the All-Ireland hadn't been to Connacht or Ulster for 23 years.

That day, Dublin and Meath were replaying - as usual that month - in Croke Park and spectators gathered in clusters, radios clutched to their heads. Eyes on the match, ears tuned into the seemingly infinite.

Tomorrow afternoon in Castlebar, Durcan lines out in what will be his second Bank of Ireland Connacht football final. He will be up against John O'Mahony's Galway who last year brought the Sam Maguire back to Connacht for the second time in four years.

"I can't remember what I was dreaming about back then. But anyone who puts on a pair of boots wants to win cups and medals, to have something sitting on the mantlepiece," says Durcan.

Such aspirations aren't always realistic in every county and particularly not 11 years ago. But football was on the threshhold of an egalitarian age where tradition would count for less and less. Leitrim, Sligo's neighbours with a sideboard as bare as their own, won Connacht in 1994. Durcan denies any pangs of jealousy and instead points out where that breakthrough led. "Look back at it. Leitrim had some great players, Darcy and Quinn, exceptional players. John O'Mahony was in charge so they were well managed. Leitrim set a standard that others had to meet and take to another level. Mayo did it and were unlucky in two All-Ireland finals. Then Galway had to beat them and take it to the next level.

"I think everyone was delighted to see Leitrim coming through. It was the same with Donegal winning the All-Ireland - great to see teams coming through, particularly after waiting so long."

Sligo have been knocking on the door themselves for much of the past decade. Two All-Ireland B finals and a Connacht final in 1997 were contested and lost. Five years ago the defeat by Mayo was narrow. Tomorrow's prospects are coloured by different experiences.

The positive background is that Sligo have taken Galway to a replay in three of the last four meetings. In the most recent one in 1999, Durcan scored 1-1 and had an outstanding game in general play. "There were last-minute points and we were lucky to get the draw some of the days. Draws can be frustrating," he says. But the negative is very negative.

Two years ago in Markievicz Park, 40 minutes and 14 Galway points went by before Sligo could even muster their first score. The defeat was 18 points, 0-4 to 0-22. "It was a miserable day and just one of those results. People say 'what happened?' and you don't know how it happened. We came back that winter, knuckled down, got a few good results and stayed up in Division One."

This partial recovery included qualifying for the National League semi-finals - where Galway again beat them but on a less extravagant margin - for the first time in 27 years. It was done under former Mayo captain Peter Ford, in his first stint as an intercounty manager. "Peter has been very good. Young and enthusiastic, he's brought a different dimension, given us that cutting edge."

Since that terrible day two years ago, Sligo have have good days in the championship or, more specifically, the qualifier series the final round of which they reached last year. The victory over Kildare in Croke Park was historic: "It was great to be there, the first time any of us had played there. Winning there raised everyone's spirits."

That win over the outgoing Leinster champions drove self-confidence through the roof - to the extent that playing Dublin in Croke Park appeared a logical sequel. It ended in a 14-point defeat but Durcan doesn't regret a moment of it. "No. You have to learn on a curve and experiences teach you. It was great the first day and the second day with 60,000 there it was the loneliest place in the world. But you have to learn from both days and come back stronger."

Tomorrow at McHale Park they're back.