Ulster's Brewster rockets

Paul Brewster's first Ulster senior final takes place tomorrow in Clones when Enniskillen Gaels contest the AIB Ulster club football final against All-Ireland champions Crossmaglen. It is a big moment for a player who, through Sigerson Cup exploits and International Rules performances last year, has had a higher profile than Fermanagh football normally allows.

This has been a topsy-turvy year for him. Based in Galway last summer, Brewster spoke about the growing impossibility of commuting on a long-term basis. Were Fermanagh to lose to Monaghan and were he unable to find work nearer home, he was considering transferring to Galway.

Both provisos were dismissed. Fermanagh recorded a first championship win in seven years and a position in Belfast popped up.

His performances against Australia in October 1998 were of a sufficiently high a quality to allow Brewster the indulgence of intense disappointment when he was omitted from the travelling party for last month's successful series Down Under. Yet his brother Tom, already a shooting star with Queen's University and the county's partner to Paul at midfield, feels it was all for the best and that the line between that setback and tomorrow's big occasion was unbroken.

"I've no doubt we wouldn't have reached this stage if Paul had gone to Australia. The day the team left, we were playing Burren and it ended in a draw, so even if he had stayed back we wouldn't have had him for the replay."

In the end, Burren were beaten and in the semi-final, Bellaghy followed them in a match which ended in unpleasant scenes as the Derry champions' frustration at Enniskillen's tactical supremacy boiled over. Now Enniskillen face the most formidable club side this decade.

It is all of 17 years since a Fermanagh team, Peter McGinnity's Roslea, reached a provincial final. Up until last year when Enniskillen reached the semi-finals and were beaten by Bellaghy, no club from the county had managed to win a first-round match in 12 years.

"Looking at that as a Fermanagh man," says Paul Brewster, "you'd be thinking, `it's really time we lost this tag'."

It's been well lost by now and the team have developed the sort of momentum which is a characteristic of successful club sides. Yet Crossmaglen are daunting opponents. Rarely dominant on the scoreboard, the Armagh team have perfected the knack of doing enough to stay in front when the final whistle goes.

This year their form hasn't been hectic but Paul Brewster is predictably wary. "I was chatting to a couple of Cross supporters last August and they were saying the team wasn't going great but you could sense they were gearing up for another crack at it. They've a competitive nature and always seem to cross the line with their noses in front. We're under no illusions but it's good to be playing a team of that calibre. It keeps you focused."

After last year's promising run, the club realised it had the potential to compete at this level and Paul Brewster believes that there has been tangible improvement.

"We are a better team, with additional personnel. Last year there were six or eight minors and they have a year of colleges football under their belt. At that age, a year is very noticeable, particularly physically. There were also a few fellas who went to America early last year in March and April and others working in Dublin. Now they're back at home.

"After last year we sat down and decided to give it a real shot although the beauty of this competition is that the toughest thing is getting out of the county. But we said `let's get out and prove ourselves at this level. We had tough a quarter-final and semifinal against Derrygonnelly and Devenish - I don't want to give the impression Fermanagh's a cakewalk and then you take on the big boys.

"Seamus Doyle (Enniskillen manager) always said about getting back into this competition that now `you can prove you're as good as you think you are'. The nice thing is that we can tell if we've improved or if we are as good as we think."

There's no doubt that Enniskillen believe that they are good enough and are conscious of their advantages in the public's affections. "I think most neutrals would have a sneaking preference for us," says Paul Brewster. Tom is more direct: "I think a lot of people would like to see a new name on the trophy and a lot would like to see a Fermanagh club do well."

Can they? Paul Brewster believes so. "Crossmaglen don't panic, they're tough and hard and have great discipline but a bit of me feels that if we get running at them, we have a great chance."