THE DRESSINGROOM area in Parnell Park can often become congested. Yesterday everything worked a treat, however. By the time Derry were done celebrating on the field Kerry were well on their way to the station to catch the train home. In the Kingdom, defeats like yesterday's are rare but not regarded as apocalyptic. In Derry, days like these are sweet and if they don't exactly reverse global warming they put a spring in the step of a hungry county.

"It took us 35 to 40 minutes to really come to grips with Kerry," said Conleth Gilligan, whose goal early in the second half ensured Kerry would be on the rack for the rest of the afternoon. "In the second half we got good subs in and raised the game for them. We'll enjoy the win but the league is of no benefit now. We have seven weeks to knuckle down and get going again before we travel to Ballybofey. We're going to be judged by the championship."

Gilligan, a member of the last Derry team to win the National League title, some eight years ago, is still waiting on an Ulster medal to go with the bauble. He knows the dangers of exulting too early.

For his friend and Ballinderry team-mate Kevin McGuckin, yesterday was a splendid resurrection. This time last year he was nursing the leg he had broken in action against Louth in the league and if he was unhappy his Derry team-mates as a bunch didn't look much more content.

They pulled together through a championship run which led to Croke Park and defeat to Dublin. Yesterday they looked to have moved on some more.

"The first 20 minutes today didn't look good. We were very positive coming into the game, there seemed to be a good buzz about the team. I just thought there was something different there in this team and we could do something. We let in the first goal and then that second sloppy goal. But Niall McCusker at full back stood head and shoulder above everyone. He stopped Kieran Donaghy and that slowly turned things our way. And big Fergal (Doherty) got a goal; he doesn't get many so that was a bonus. By half-time it was game on."

McCusker may have been the one-man highlight show but Kerry are seldom brought down by lone snipers. "It was going to take all 15, 18 or 20 players going well. As a team we just seem to have a greater squad depth even though personnel hasn't changed much. We have taken a step forward. There is some belief. There is confidence in our own ability. "

If there was a theme running through Derry's response it was a defensive one. This win would be celebrated with a scientifically calibrated degree of abandon and at precisely the right moment all thoughts of the league would stop. Kevin McCloy, sidelined for much of yesterday with a groin strain, placed the right to some celebration in the context of the bad days.

"It's been seven or eight years of Derry teams with no success. A lot of lads slogged through winters and got nothing to show for it so it's great to take a win. We'll be back training on Thursday and I'm sure John McCloskey (Derry's physical trainer) will have something to show us."

McCloy's introduction late in the game roused a cheer and it seemed to strike many in the ground that Derry can't be too far off good times when they have the luxury of being able to introduce All Stars Seán Marty Lockhart and McCloy in the second half of a final. McCloy didn't see it that way.

"I did the groin again for the club and hadn't 70 minutes in me today. To see Seán Marty on before me was disappointing though!"

Finally through the crowds of well-wishers manager Paddy Crozier emerged. He has had his good times and his bad times with this Derry team and for the first 20 minutes yesterday this looked like being another bad day.

"Ah, I thought we were going to be hammered. But we pulled together and regrouped. For the first 15 to 20 minutes we didn't get out of the blocks. We sat down at half-time and reassessed it . . . Fergal Doherty's goal was huge. Enda Muldoon was excellent, Niall McCusker was tremendous at full back but we have strength in depth in the panel.

"We have been knocking on the door and at long last we have got something. Our expectations have been very high. We have great support here today. We don't know if it will be a distraction, we haven't been here before. We haven't mentioned championship in the dressingroom since the draw was made. We know we have Donegal in Ballybofey on June 1st. We'll draw the line in the sand this week; we won't let it get to our heads."

For Kerry, yesterday's setback has a context and won't dent the county's confidence. "We won't have any complaints," said manager Pat O'Shea. "We could have taken more chances early on. We lost control of the middle third. They made it far more difficult in the second half for us . . . Didn't see the sending-off, can't comment on it. We have no complaints."