Brogan seeks his forward momentum

GAELIC GAMES:IT SAYS a lot about Dublin's path to Sunday's All-Ireland football semi-final that their top scorer and 2010 footballer of the year is generally perceived as being quiet.

But while it hasn’t been a great season so far for Bernard Brogan, it hasn’t exactly been a bad one – as Donegal will be all too aware.

Part of Brogan’s problem, naturally, is being singled out for extra attention – the only danger with that, as Tyrone discovered in the All-Ireland quarter-final, is that such double-marking on Brogan invariably frees up someone else, and Diarmuid Connolly ensured Tyrone paid the ultimate price for employing that tactic.

Brogan has also turned provider as much as scorer this summer, in some games helping older brother Alan to grab the spotlight. In addition, there’s every chance Brogan could suddenly rumble back to top form, just like Colm Cooper did for Kerry last Sunday.

So far he’s scored 0-19, which is still six points more than Dublin’s next best scorer (Connolly) – although well short of the 3-42 that Brogan totalled for the summer of 2010. In fact, Brogan doesn’t even make the top 10 championship scorers of 2011, which is still topped by Wexford’s Ben Brosnan, with his 0-32.

In the meantime, Brogan’s relative calm has helped keep tabs on the so-called Dublin hype. He knows himself that semi-finals are all about winning, because having hit 1-7 against Cork last year, Dublin still came up a point short.

This time, he says, no one is getting carried by their thorough dismantling of Tyrone – and they’ll need to “replicate and better that” to take down Donegal.

“We enjoyed ourselves that night,” he says, “but we were back training two days later, and it was quickly parked, because for all the pleasing aspects of that win, it left us with no medals, no closer to the All-Ireland final than we were a year ago. So we have trained very hard since.

“A lot of hard work paid off against Tyrone, and it is up to us to replicate and better that the next day . . . This is going to be a ferocious battle. We’re confident that we can go out and perform if we replicate our work rate, and are willing to die for that ball.

“People will question whether we are capable of playing as well as we did against Tyrone and the answer is we have to.”

Brogan was only seven years old when Donegal beat Dublin in the 1992 All-Ireland final, so naturally enough can’t recall any of the hype surrounding that game – except knowing that Dublin were fancied to win, just like they are on Sunday.

“I can guarantee that hype is not something that we let affect us,” he says. “Our record and Donegal’s record are similar this year, but they won their league title, so the challenge will be substantial. We know full well what Donegal are capable of, and there is no underestimating what they bring to the challenge and how tough they are to beat.”

Both Dublin and Donegal are also at full strength – although it will be tomorrow before their teams are announced. Dublin are expected to be unchanged, while Donegal are expected to bring captain Michael Murphy back into the starting line-up, after withdrawing him shortly before their quarter-final win over Kildare, due to a hamstring strain.

Brogan won’t need any reminder of how dangerous Murphy can be for Donegal: “I know all about Michael Murphy from my time in DCU, and got to know Rory Kavanagh in Maynooth as well, and they are leaders and class footballers, who step up when the questions are asked.

“Donegal command respect because of their achievements. They have won the two main competitions they have focused on so far, namely the Division Two league title and the Ulster Championship. They have confidence and momentum and are a serious challenge.”

“The style of football they play depends on them being ultra fit, super confident and very composed on the ball. They pack their defence and cut down on scoring chances, and we know that every chance we get will be crucial, because it takes such an effort to create those opportunities.”

Whether he’s creating those chances or taking them, Bernard Brogan remains a marked man for Sunday.