All-Ireland SFC semi-final/Kerry v Tyrone: Keith Duggan on the outstanding contribution the talented Clann naGael man offers the Tyrone team in their quest for a first All-Ireland title.

There has been one reservation to the outpouring of praise that has greeted Tyrone's promising drive for their first All-Ireland. With Peter Canavan visibly handing the torch over to his former pupil Eoin Mulligan, while retaining his serene influence on the team, and a fast and well-rounded team at last flowering from the county's stunning under-age programme, many are convinced that this is Tyrone's year. The plaudits have been enthusiastic and general.

Except where Brian Dooher is concerned. Often and most trenchantly on RTÉ's The Sunday Game, Dooher has been labelled the ugly duckling of Tyrone's gifted forward set. Compared with the casually excellent talents of Mulligan and Canavan, and the latent brilliance of Ger Cavlan, Dooher's appeal is not immediately obvious. But the fact remains that since making his debut in 1996, he has been ever present on Tyrone teams despite a series of managerial changes.

"In fact, I would say that throughout, Brian was probably always close to the first man picked," estimates Danny Ball, the former Tyrone manager and a club-mate of Dooher's.

"I have said for years that this is a remarkable fella. People around here were both livid and astounded by the criticism of him this summer. What was said on television was not even mentioned, it just was not talked about because people could not understand where it was coming from. The respect for Brian Dooher in this county is total."

There is no avoiding that the Clann naGael man can look like an odd fish in the Tyrone team. Nominally a right half forward, he is liable to pop up anywhere. He has an unusual physique: small, but with a barrel chest and long legs that never seem to tire, like a Kenyan distance runner.

"Yeah, you could compare him to that," says his former team-mate Ciaran McBride, somewhat dubiously. "He certainly sounds like he is talking Kenyan whenever he gets excited in the dressing-room.

"It is as if he was purpose-built for the job he does. Very light and strong, with an incredible work rate, and he is so brave. I think his game is a combination of great intelligence and high stupidity. What I mean is that he sees situations develop before other players, and that intelligence puts him into places he has no right to be in; he is driven enough, or maybe stupid enough, to be in challenging for the kind of ball other forwards or players wouldn't dream of trying to make their own."

He is not inclined to stand around waiting for the action to reach his sector of the park. From the whistle, he hones in on the ball, gets possession and carries it forward.

"That is just Brian's game," says Danny Ball. "I doubt this is down to any specific instruction from Mickey (Harte). It is just Brian's way to get into the heart of things."

McBride remembers when he broke into the team as a 19-year-old, Dooher played a more conventional half forward game.

"From an inside forward perspective, he was a dream; busy on the ball and always looking to supply, sharp and with good vision. And he could take a score. But his nature is to try and redress problems. Tyrone were strong defensively at that time. In later seasons, as he grew more senior, he would drop back to help out the defence when he felt that was needed. Now, he follows his instinct."

Ball reckons that as far as club football goes, Dooher "is ClannaGael". "This is a qualified veterinary surgeon with a demanding practice up in Derry, and yet he finds the time to take club training and keep the thing going."

McBride, a teacher, was always amazed by Dooher's hours. "It was fine for the likes of myself and Canavan, with time off in the summer. But this guy was up at three and four in the morning on emergency calls and still found time to make training and bound around the place. His energy is amazing."

Although younger, he related most to the core of the 1995 team. He is still only 26, but is regarded, along with Canavan, as a veteran.

"He was never the golden boy of Tyrone football nor was that a role he would be comfortable in," says McBride. "This is a very bright and quiet guy who cares deeply about football and probably is not all that concerned with how he is perceived."

For the record, Dooher can kick points. He registered 0-3 in the draw against Derry back in May, but since then chipped in with a point here and there. At club level, he is much more prolific, playing centre field.

"He is a great exponent of kicking with the outside of the boot, an art you see less and less off," says Ball.

Dooher was substituted just once in this campaign, with 12 minutes remaining in the Ulster final replay against Down. The contest was well over by that point. But mostly the management just leave him to his own devices. Stephen O'Neill, a recent All Star and a club-mate of Dooher's, is currently trying to break back into the Tyrone first XV and deep down he knows that if he is to return it will not be at Dooher's expense.

The reason Dooher does not contribute greatly to the frightening scores Tyrone have put up is that he sees there is no need to. He is a facilitator. The ball on which Enda McGinley or Brian McGuigan puts a glorious finish more often than not originated from a source plundered by Dooher.

"And because he is on the ball so much," continues McBride, "any small mistake he does make is magnified. But almost all of the time, he makes the right decision."

Around Tyrone, they regard him as indispensable, and always will. "All I know is I wouldn't like to be following him around a field," says Ball. "People don't see what he does for Tyrone. They will yet."