GAELIC GAMES/National Football League:One got the feeling when Mayo's Alan Dillon looked out across Croke Park yesterday he didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so he laughed. "It looks well," he said, with an obvious grin.

It was Dillon's first visit to GAA headquarters since last September, when along with the rest of his Mayo team-mates he suffered football's worst nightmare. Having played so brilliantly to make the All-Ireland final form deserted them when they most needed it - with Dillon, almost inconceivably, ending up scoreless in the 13-point defeat to Kerry.

His duties yesterday were far less pressurised as he helped launch the GAA's latest sponsorship deal involving Crown Paints. But Dillon will be back on Sunday for more important matters as Mayo renew their enduring rivalry with Galway in the football league semi-final.

Still, even that game will probably pale in significance compared to the Connacht championship meeting between the same teams on May 20th. And besides, Mayo's ultimate goal for the year must be to get back to Croke Park in September, and finally win the cursed thing - which is the only way to make full amends for the disappointments of recent years.

"Of course, there'll still be the memory of last September when we come here on Sunday," he said, "but it's only a league semi-final. There won't be 82,000 here or any great pressure, and hopefully, we can enjoy it this time, and express ourselves a little more. But all players love to play in Croke Park and I can't wait to get out there again.

"You can't hide from the facts either, so of course we've analysed the All-Ireland final, and looked at all our mistakes, and what we did wrong. We've looked back at our weaknesses on the day, and tried to work on them. You can read into it as much as you want really, but it was a combination of things."

Mayo, it seems, haven't dwelt on that disappointment, and already put the lessons of defeat to good use. Along with Donegal they secured play-off status even before the final round of the league, and Dillon also puts that down to a combination of things.

"Our fitness during the league has been very good. Jim Kilty has come in, and brought a whole new freshness to the thing. We'd some tough games along the way but got through, like I think the game against Cork showed we'd some good character there, being six points down at half-time. That's the most pleasing factor really.

"John O'Mahony has also come in with a new approach. His man-management is very good, in that he gets to know all the players, and tries to improve you as much as he can, individually, and that's one thing that has made a big difference.

"Of course everyone still has an eye on six weeks' time. But at the same time we won't be holding back. We want to put in as strong a performance as we can. It would be a great boost at this time of the year, getting some silverware going into the championship. At the start of the league everyone wants to make the knock-out stages, which we've done. So it's time to move on again, try to make the final, and win it."

Whenever teams meet in the play-offs of the league with a championship date looming there is always the danger that some shadowboxing will take preference to the real punches. One can't even be sure if victory on Sunday will give the winning team some sort of psychological edge for next month's meeting, or if the losing team gain the greater incentive to turn the tables the next day.

Mayo and Galway met at the same stage last year, with Galway triumphing, only for Mayo to come up with the trump card in the Connacht championship final. When Mayo last won the league title in 2001 they also beat Galway in the final, only to watch Galway capture the All-Ireland title.