John O'Mahony's legend shines bright in the west. The nomadic Mayo man led a maroon cavalcade on the same path along which he famously guided Leitrim four summers ago and which he also journeyed with his native county. Galway footballers made light of driving patches of rain and a leaden Derry unit to beat the Ulster champions 0-16 to 1-8 in yesterday's All-Ireland semi-final, sending their supporters and substitutes careering ecstatically onto the pitch (above). It will be Galway's first All-Ireland final since 1983. Back then, Derry manager Brian Mullins was playing with his native Dublin, the team that ultimately subdued Galway that September in a match best forgotten.

Derry fans left Croke Park yesterday afternoon in the mood for consigning all memories of the game to wasteland. Their team never ignited and Brian Mullins seemed perplexed as he watched them fashion laborious and generally ineffective attack routes while Galway razed ahead with devastating directness.

The westerners came out six-shooting from the start, nailing four consecutive points before Derry engineered a response in the face of a stiff breeze.