NFL Division One Final Donegal v Mayo:Donegal start tomorrow's decider on the back of losing 13 finals in a row. Keith Dugganexplains why he believes this one should produce a different result
The appearance of Donegal in tomorrow's National League final leaves Mayo with the welcome novelty of seeing another county's record in major finals fall under the spotlight. Very quietly, Donegal have chalked up a significant legacy of blown finals since the through-the-looking-glass season of 1992, when they ended up as All-Ireland champions.
They have not returned to an All-Ireland final since, but 13 failures to deliver in Ulster, league and McKenna Cup finals have amounted to 15 years with nothing other than tantalising what-ifs to shout about.
There have been several bad luck stories along the way - Declan Bonner's management tenure was defined by the concession of a desperately unfortunate late goal in the rain in the Ulster final of 1998, even if the score was finished with flamboyance by Derry's Joe Brolly. And in 2003, the year of Brian McEniff's last miracle, Donegal went for broke against All-Ireland champions Armagh in a gripping All-Ireland semi-final and might have triumphed.
On other days, however, they played inhibited and lacklustre football. They took a pasting from Tyrone in front of a bumper crowd in the 2004 McKenna Cup final. Last April, they played Louth for the Division Two final, an encounter that went to a replay and attracted a bigger crowd than the Division One showpiece between Kerry and Galway.
On a wet, forlorn day in Breffni, Donegal looked flat and almost stage stricken. At times they seemed capable of cutting through the Wee County, but there were large chunks of the game when they looked to be going through the motions. Louth played with bravery and enthusiasm and rightly ended up with the medals.
And it wasn't as though the Donegal men were indifferent to Division Two trinkets, with the veteran Brian Roper - a substitute and plagued with injury all last season - admitting that he would have loved to have won that title. The Ballyshannon man made his championship debut against Down in 1996 and - along with Adrian Sweeney (1997), Brendan Devenney (1998) and Michael Hegarty (1999) - has toiled through what has been a decade of schizophrenic shows from Donegal.
From 1995, when they blasted the then All-Ireland champions out of Ulster and then crashed against Monaghan in the following round, pre-empting what Donegal might do has been a hazardous business. Player unhappiness with the county board was the alleged reason for that 1995 implosion, but, since then, there have been other mysterious lapses in form.
It is often forgotten that the 2003 run began with relegation from Division One in the league and a brutal display against Fermanagh in the first round of the Ulster championship, a defeat that caused McEniff plenty of sleepless nights and to question if he hadn't made a mistake in coming back.
Of course, one of the main reasons he returned was that the county executive were finding it tough to lure a manager deemed suitable to the team. After 2002, the Donegal boys' inclination to what Tommy Lyons described as "some difficulties with their social life" meant that they were landed with the unwanted label as the party county.
Their summers have been defined by Armagh, the team they met in the Ulster finals of 2002, 2004 and 2006 as well as that pulsating 2003 encounter. Armagh were regarded as the antithesis of Donegal - sober minded, protestant in their dedication and almost monastic in their mindset to the game. Armagh won each match and the 2004 final - coming after Donegal had knocked out All-Ireland champions Tyrone - was not as much a victory as a chastisement. It seemed like a rebuke, the harshest proof that there was no room at the top for dilettantes, for pleasure seekers.
However, even during the worst of times, there was something insufficient in the general accusation that Donegal was a county with bundles of talent and not enough dedication. None of the players reprimanded for post-match drinking sessions ever denied that they had stepped out of line. What bugged them was that it became national headlines.
"That was the real problem. There were several incidents of indiscipline, but, for some reason, they were treated like international incidents when it came to Donegal," says John Gildea.
"The boys weren't perfect all the time, but we knew that there was much worse stuff going on in other counties and nothing being said about it. Next thing there was this notion going around that they were all mad up in Donegal. And once you have that reputation, it is hard to shake. And the difference this year was that when a few boys decided to let their hair down after the Kerry match, it was dealt with in-house, as a squad and a few boys were quietly reprimanded and that was it."
There's also the likelihood that even if every Donegal squad member of the last five years were devout teetotallers, their record in finals would be no different. They were unlucky to have bounced against Armagh - a tough, exceptional and truly great team - in the four years of that period. They pushed Armagh all the way in the 2002 Ulster final, again in 2003 and, with a young team, played very well at the same stage last year.
Gildea was a key player for Donegal through most of those disappointments. Right now, he has stopped playing football altogether and spent this week in Helsinki working for Robinson's auctioneers. But speaking on a dark evening in Scandinavia, he admits the defeats were cutting.
"You kind of reached the point where you felt it wasn't to be. Obviously, as we lost each final, our record worsened. But as a player, you aren't really conscious of that. I know that every time we hit the field, we were convinced we could win those games. It didn't happen that way. But the belief never went. And I feel certain that those previous defeats won't be anything that the boys will be conscious about in Croke Park at the weekend."
The appointment of Brian McIver was regarded with puzzlement by many people within the county and when Down came to Ballybofey early last June, there was a mood of trepidation and uncertainty about how the primarily young team would fare. A scintillating display, followed by the equally impressive dismissal of Derry a fortnight later, provided the answer and, since then, McIver has effectively rebuilt the team and brought a new directness and aggression to the traditionally sweet, short Donegal style.
New players were given a shot - Adrian Sweeney was used as a substitute, rolled in during the critical periods of matches, cameos that have continued all through this season.
"I speak with Aidy every week and I wouldn't say he is exactly happy with that role," says Tony Boyle, the former full forward now involved in management with Dungloe.
"He is probably fitter now than he has been for four years. He spent the winter training with the boxing club to shed a few pounds and he is moving really well now and I would have no doubt he is still fit for a full 70 minutes. Adrian is only 30 still. And this thing of coming in as an impact substitute is very high pressure because there is an instant expectation to make something happen.
"Adrian still believes he has a lot to offer as a starter. But he isn't the kind to complain or throw a huff, he has just rolled up the sleeves and gets on with it and I suppose he hopes he will get a chance down the line."
Slowly, Donegal football is getting the monkey off its back. They actually beat Armagh this year, albeit a shadow outfit in the early phase of the McKenna Cup. Nonetheless, it was important for Donegal to understand that there was no divine law to stop them from conquering those tangerine shirts.
In 2005, they drew with Armagh in the first round of the championship and had three players sent-off during an extraordinary replay in which they basically blew a fuse. That match was just a footnote in the season, but it was important for Donegal, a statement that they had enough. But they still have to win.
In the meantime, they chalked up some big wins in the league and in beating Kildare last weekend they achieved a first victory in Croke Park since beating Tipperary in the qualifiers in 2003. Before the first league match, away to Cork, the general feeling was that Donegal would do well to stay up.
Instead, they made the competition become their story to the extent that, for once, Mayo can come into a national final in Croke Park under no pressure.
It is the turn of Donegal to stand up and be counted as contenders.
