"The only corner forward in Ireland named Geoffrey and the only one to wear an ear ring." - Micheal O'Muircheartaigh, commentator.

When Geoffrey McGonigle lumbered along the sideline in the dying minutes of last July's miserable Ulster final, the Derry crowd received him with a guttural roar. He splashed across the turf, a 16-stone suede-head with silken feet and in one sequence defined the outcome of that match.

In injury time, he palmed a high ball into space behind his marker, pivoted that bulky frame with disconcerting daintiness and lobbed a delicate pass into space for Joe Brolly to run onto. Brolly fired past Donegal's Tony Blake and blew kisses through the rain.

Afterwards, the Dungiven man stood grinning outside the shower-room, a white towel encompassing his waistline.

"Sure I love getting goals for Joe Brolly," he chuckled. "Joe's a lovely fella. I like making him look good."

McGonigle is a Derry GAA folk hero. His reputation, sizeable in every respect, preceded him from when he was a chubby-faced youngster haunting the club grounds in his native Dungiven. Equally proficient at hurling and football, he represented the town and county at all levels and even though club rivalry is fierce in Derry, he became something of a darling across the GAA heartland, a contradictory figure who thrived on wonderful sleight of movement and deftness despite his cumbersome frame.

He progressed from the St Patrick's, Maghera hotbed in 1991 after picking up a Hogan Cup medal in 1991 and although he watched Derry from Hill 16 when Derry won their first All-Ireland, he has been on the fringes of the panel for almost five years. His cameo in Clones last year seemed, therefore, to symbolise his entire career, which has been based upon glowing reviews squeezed out of sporadic minutes.

"It's hugely frustrating to have been used as a substitute so often," he said earlier this week.

"Like, I'm around now since 1994 and I'm still waiting on my full debut. I suppose the weight maybe came against me in previous years but that's not there as an excuse anymore. I've been on that Nutron diet and I've shed two and three quarter stone. I'm down to 14 stone even now and I've never felt as sharp," he explains in that crisp, declarative Derry tone.

His charisma is almost entirely incidental to his personality, stemming utterly from his on-field actions.

"He is an entirely modest fella and his appearance really belies his personality. There is no malice in him, I don't think he has ever been sent off in his life, and he is just such a wonderfully skilful player that crowds naturally warm to him," opines Fr Sean McMullan, a member of the Dungiven club and a chronicler of Derry GAA.

Two years ago, McGonigle virtually eclipsed Brolly in the Dungiven side when they blazed across Ulster. When the quick-silver Brolly was forced to withdraw in the provincial club final against Errigal Ciaran, McGonigle stepped up and fashioned a series of sublime points.

His team went on to meet Corofin in the All-Ireland semifinal in Ballyshannon the following March and their burly talisman became visibly upset at the dismissal of his brother Seoirse and the gradual dissipation of the Northern side's hopes. It was a teary end to a soulful run by team from the tight Derry parish.

All winter, McGonigle has divided his time snapping heels to joint football manager Eamon Coleman's sonorous commands and clipping points for the Derry hurlers, amassing 7-67 over the season. Only once did the dual schedule present a problem, when McGonigle had to fly to London for a Saturday hurling match and be back in Dublin for the league quarter-final against Cork the next day. Predictably, he ran onto Croke Park as a substitute as they crashed, 3-14 to 1-6.

"I dunno what happened us that day, not a baldy. But we're no way that much behind Cork." The onset of every summer now has found him itching for an opportunity to run for 70 minutes. He knew that the return of Coleman afforded him few guarantees.

"Arragh, I know Eamonn well, who doesn't? He coached me back in Maghera. But sure Eamon is ruthless - brilliant - but you know, he'd take no sh**e from anyone. He can have the crack with the lads on an individual basis but when it comes to serious matters, no-one is in any doubt as to where they stand."

And on Wednesday evening, McGonigle stood in the dusk, his blood rushing as Coleman named him as a starter for tomorrow's match against Cavan. "Geoffrey, top the corner." Delicious poetry to his ears.

And even though the same team-sheet also announced the demotion of Joe Brolly through injury, they supped contentedly around the pubs in Dungiven that evening.

It has been a time for soul searching in Derry. Coleman may roam the lines again and a significant number of survivors from the 1993 odyssey still dot the landscape but of late there has been a jaded look about them.

But Big Geoffrey is in from the start. They'll rise to him when he goes raiding in Casement tomorrow.