MAYBE Cork should have sensed some foreboding when ushered into the old dressing room in the bowels of the Hogan Stand, rather than to the new state-of-the-art rooms on the far side of the Croke Park pitch.

The irony of being housed in the same room where they nursed their wounds after the All-Ireland semi-final defeat to Dublin last August probably only hit home to them after yet another cruel semi-final defeat, this time at the hands of Donegal.

And PJ McGowan's post-match words in the Cork nest, a steam-room with all the atmosphere of a morgue, just confirmed to them that interest in the 1995/96 National Football League was over.

Donegal manager McGowan is not one to gloat he has close family ties with Cork. But he could derive plenty of satisfaction at the manner in which his side - and, particularly, John Ban Gallagher - plucked victory from impending stalemate.

"I honestly thought it was going to finish in a draw," he confided. "But John Bin's point was a good, running score the kind that deserves to win any match."

McGowan is very much a believer in team football, and yesterday's conditions were very much made for such an effort. "It was a difficult day for defenders, especially. But I thought we settled very well in defence and Matt (Gallagher) got to terms with Colin (Corkery) quickly enough."

However, it was the Donegal midfield pairing of Brian Murray and James Ruane who did much to contribute to their side's victory and McGowan conceded: "The two lads probably had a point to prove. All we heard about was how good the two Cork players were, but Brian and James did not lose anything in that department."

"Overall, though, it was a good team performance in difficult conditions. We dominated the second half and I thought we should have had the game sown up, but at least we continued to battle and that is encouraging."

One i)light on Donegal's performance was the injury to wing-back Martin Shovlin mid-way through the second half - "I don't know how badly his shoulder is damaged," said McGowan - which comes on top of injuries sustained in the semi-final by Declan Bonner, who is out for the season, and James McHugh.

Tony Boyle, meanwhile, was in no doubt where Donegal's extra resources came from in the closing minutes of yesterday's game. "It was our fitness. If you had seen us running those hills in the last few weeks you'd understand how we kept going in such tough conditions.

A sense of relief was evident throughout the Donegal camp, but Boyle added: "I thought we deserved to win. We missed a lot of chances in the second-half and I also thought the free awarded to tie the match near the end was a wee bit harsh, but John Ban scored a massive point to win it for us and, really, that is all that counts now, " said Boyle.

For Donegal, another encounter with old foes Derry looms on the horizon ... but for Cork - "We had plenty of chances in the first halt, but didn't take them," said manager Billy Morgan - the league has slipped away and thoughts must now turn to their Monster championship encounter with Limerick, far from Croke Park.