Never-ending drama

IT was a weekend of missed goal chances, come-backs and deadlocks, and a weekend which saw a tame end to Galway's All-Ireland reign.

Most of all, it was a weekend when Munster football ruled supreme.

As Dublin and Donegal prepare for the second showdown, and doubtless more arguments about tickets, Cork and Kerry are preparing for one of the most enthralling All-Ireland semi-finals in recent times.

Dublin will be invaded by the South. When Larry Tompkins went into the Kerry dressing-room at the end of their replayed Munster semi-final, he must have thought that was the back of the Kingdom. They were convincingly beaten, but that game was shadowed by difficult circumstances for some of the players.

This third act in the drama promises to be the most attractive. Both Cork and Kerry have improved since leaving the province. They both exposed limitations in Connacht challengers this weekend and they both have forwards who can score.

The Leesiders were never really troubled by Mayo, something not reflected in the three-point margin of victory. They were worth a far more convincing win. Only Ciaran McDonald's

injury-time penalty put a shine on what Mayo will contribute to the record books.

Before the game, Cork's hope supposedly rested with the radar in Colin Corkery's white boots. While Corkery tortured another soul, full-back David Heaney, it was the display of Brendan Jer O'Sullivan that really caught the eye.

There was never going to be any other outcome in the curtain-raiser yesterday. Not after Graham Canty out-leaped David Brady to fetch his first ball, not after Mayo looked perplexed by the attacking verve contained within the Cork half-back line, not after O'Sullivan pledged to run himself into the new sod at Croker.

There is plenty to tax Tompkins' mind. Cork missed a few goal chances, although they did force two excellent saves from Peter Burke.

Fionán Murray's miss near the end of the first half, though, is something to mull over. While Kenneth Mortimer did well to force Murray into an awkward shooting position, the Barrs man should have done better after the radar in Corkery's feet floated the ball into his chest.

Yesterday was a day for heart, soul, passion and pain in Croker. Mayo had plenty of heart players like Brian Maloney and James Nallen never threw the towel in but their attack lacked soul. It lacked verve. It remembered the patterns every Mayo forward must follow. Come to Croke Park and miss the posts. Again and again and again.

And we were led to believe, with evidence coming from two displays where they scored 20 points or more, that these Mayo attackers were different. That they have found shooting boots or Billy's boots or inspiration from somewhere. Yesterday, they were found wanting.

Of course, perhaps Cork didn't let them play. In the Rebel's game yesterday there was a lesson for Joe Kernan and Armagh. You can stop a team playing their game, while still playing football yourselves.

Lynch and O'Sullivan were awesome in the last defensive line, Sean Levis continues to mature at an exceptional rate. Earlier in the year, Tompkins had talked about his panel of players finally maturing, blossoming into the side he believed they could.

Yesterday was a day for teams to prove they have grown up in Croke Park. Maybe Dublin and Donegal have a bit still to do in that department yet. This was not a match for the faint-hearted, a tense affair between two of the rising stars in football.

Dublin were rocked by the news that their fatherly master Tommy Lyons was admitted to Blackrock clinic before the game with stomach pains. While he is believed to have watched the game, it cannot have been good for his health.

It was an afternoon for players to fortify themselves, an afternoon where boys grew into men. Ray Cosgrove remains the Hill's newest hero, scoring two opportunist goals and torturing Eamon Doherty. But his supporting cast wilted in the furnace.

John McNally and Alan Brogan managed just one point apiece, and only for the porous nature of Donegal's full-back line, the revolution in the capital would have come to a hasty halt.

The game was probably a beneficial experience for the protagonistsfor the protagonists that people say that you will better for it. It was about guts and fortitude. And both sides showed they had plenty.

Although, Brendan Devenney scored four frees, it will be his missed goal chance in the first half that will be remembered as his biggest contribution to the game.

Only Adrian Sweeney kept Donegal's championship hopes, on life-support for long tracts of the second half, alive.

Sweeney and Cosgrove were just two more of the glittering attacking talents that are spread across the whole spectrum of football. Nobody will want to be an Allstar selector this year. Imagine the full-forward line, the arguments and counter-arguments.

Perhaps it is fitting there is a sequel to this weekend. Tommy Lyons, the man who did more to promote the feast than anyone, missed it after all. And Sligo deserve another afternoon in Croker. Another big weekend awaits the GAA, while next week, it is about the fairy-tale of Waterford.

Remember when Damien Duff was at the forefront of our minds and people were talking about this being a disappointing season.

Now, we have a Cork-Kerry semi-final, the special stories of Sligo and Waterford and another afternoon out for Dublin and Donegal.

What a difference a few weeks make.