Brady fights back the tears to finally claim his medal

IN years to come, they will remember it as The Brady Final.

On eight pained previous occasions, the Ballina midfielder laced up his boots on decisive All-Ireland days. Not once did he pocket a winner's medal for his efforts.

Younger brother Liam might have scored six points and been named man-of-the-match but how could this be anything other than David's day?

Six months ago, after Mayo's destruction by Kerry, he finally admitted defeat in his search for that elusive All-Ireland trinket.

Aged 30, he thought he had given all he could to club and county and the memories of the nine months he had spent basking in the Aussie sunshine the previous year beckoned him back.

Yesterday though, Brady was still there, still refusing to throw in the towel. This time it felt different and he cried his heart out in a half-time speech to ensure to would be different.

Manager Tommy Lyons produced an All-Ireland winners' medal from somewhere he wouldn't say where and the team was suitably galvanised.

A line in the sand was drawn.

"David Brady is Ballina through and through and he cried with pure determination at half-time," said Lyons. "That man has lost six or seven (six, and drawn two) All-Ireland finals but I'll bet he would have wanted to win one with Ballina who he stayed behind for in the depths of despair last September.

"They were two difficult phonecalls I had to make to David and Ronan McGarrity after that Kerry defeat but they came back to play in a round- robin club game no questions asked. I'll bet he'll die a happy man now."

Brady agreed. "Mayo people eat, sleep and drink football. It's taken me nine games to get to this. I'm number nine for Ballina and I can die a happy man now. This is better than I ever expected. It's the best bunch of players I've ever played with.

"There were strong words said at half-time but we had come back from two points at half-time to beat Crossmolina in Mayo last year and I knew that any team that could do that against Cross could beat Portlaoise as well."

It was a win they thoroughly deserved. Portlaoise never clicked into the gear we all knew they had, but for that the Mayo side can take a bow.

Halfway through the second half and the momentum was firmly in Ballina's favour.

Then came the hammer blow of Portlaoise's second goal with Peter McNulty tagging on a point soon after. Ballina were suddenly two in arrears. Could they go where so many Mayo teams have failed to go in the past 15 years? David Brady had no doubt they could.

"When they got the goal I honestly believed we were going to win the game," he insisted. "When you want something you want it. I'd been in six or seven All-Ireland team meetings before this one and I never saw anything like today. If I had a house last night I would have put it on us. These guys don't know how to lose."

The sheer belief in their voices smacks you with every word. Captain Brian Ruane was one of the half dozen Ballina men to play six years ago when they lost to Crossmaglen on St Patrick's Day. Doubt was never given an audience in Ruane's mind either, even when Kevin Fitzpatrick struck with that fantastic second goal.

"Even after that we kept chipping away with the points," Ruane pointed out. "We missed a few scores, myself included, but we kept our heads. '99 wouldn't have entered the younger lads' minds. Nothing fazes these guys. They've been winners all the way from minor and U21 and they've only lost one championship game in two years.

"That's a fair achievement for a team from Mayo. We knew if we didn't win we'd only have ourselves to blame, just like in '99 but we were determined to make sure that wasn't going to happen."

This is a win that will reverberate far beyond the confines of Ballina. Until yesterday Crossmolina were the only Mayo team who seemed able to depart Dublin with some silverware in tow. Not anymore.

"Hopefully the hoodoo is over now and Sam can come back to Mayo in the near future," said full-forward Liam Brady. "1999 is in the past. This is 2005 and Ballina are All-Ireland champions. It's great to win it with two brothers as well and for one of them especially this is a great day. It's fitting that when the whistle went at the end David had the ball in his hands."