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Throw Ball, your point was not about the quality of the 91 Down team but that they were lucky with injuries. The long-term loss of key players like Ambrose Rogers and Liam Austin that summer suggests otherwise. In the famous drawn game against Derry, Greg Blaney was also unluckily sent off at a crucial stage. You have to deal with these things if you want to win an all Ireland. 

Maginn and Brannigan both did very well for the Down u21s this year, but, while Maginn may fill out even more, it is sadly hard to believe that Brannigan could ever be big enough for senior county football. It is verging on the astonishing that McComiskey was allowed to play club football a week before an Ulster semi, and it must be pretty clear that he will not start against Armagh.

Murtagh will be fortunate to hold his place after two fairly ordinary displays against Tyrone, but he is always likely to be well up for a game against Armagh. Our forward line has plenty of flexibility, especially if Ambrose switches to midfield and McKernan comes in, but the defence remains the big concern.

Congratulations to Fermanagh, who should have at least doubled their winning margin. They got their tactics right on the night, and won every individual battle on the pitch. Doherty was an enormous loss for Derry, as Paddy Bradley is a wonderful talent but most certainly not a team leader. He spent most of the night waving his hands at his colleagues and the bench rather than going out the field and making something happen.

All the talk has been about the 1982 Fermanagh team, but, in the Brewster Park clubhouse, the picture on the wall is on the side which beat Down in the following year's championship for the only time in living memory. There are an incredible number of Fermanagh supporters who also follow Down (because they hate Cavan to the south and Tyrone to the north) and they would all much prefer to get Armagh in this year's Ulster final.

Finally, in the BBC box, Jarlath Burns said last week and again this week that James passed to Mickey for the winning goal in the 1994 AI final. It was bad enough last week but this week James was sitting beside him and simply smiled to himself. Time to dust down that video, Jarlath.

Throw Ball, every successful All Ireland team has to cope with injuries. Down went into the 1991 championship with a first choice midfield of Ambrose Rogers and Liam Austin. Ambrose was injured before the first round, and missed the entire Ulster championship. Big Austin took a knock against Derry in the drawn semi final which meant that he was unavailable for both the replay and the Ulster final. Both were only fit for the bench in the AI semi and final. Given that we had otherwise a generally very young side, and had not won a provincial title in the previous ten years, those were major losses. We were outsiders in every game we played that summer, so Sam came home strictly on merit.

Looks like a tight finish is coming as division three goes into the second half of the season, with five strong teams contesting the four play-off places. Ardglass are notoriously hard to beat on their own ground, but discipline will be an issue for them. Glasdrumman are probably the best side in the division, and establishing a reserve set-up has helped them, but they are going through a bad patch. There is very little to chose between Bredagh and Carryduff, and it will be difficult for Drumgath to make a late run without Lynch and Downey. While Glasdrumman and Bredagh might just do it, anything is possible in a cut-throat league.

Donagh, what was the story that Dinny Cahill complained about ?

Dan McCartan did what he had to do on Cavanagh, which was to accept that he could not beat him in the air but generally to harass him, annoy him and put him off his game by all the means at his disposal. He did it very well for most of the game, even he did stretch the rules almost as much as he stretched Cavanagh's jersey on occasions. Crucially, he was not booked until the last couple of minutes of normal time. If he had been given a yellow card earlier, the outcome could have been very different. Cavanagh still scored three points from play, but we would probably have taken that at the start of the night. If he had either scored or set up a goal, as he very nearly did, we would have lost, so McCartan deserved considerable credit.

However, I still do not think that McCartan should be sent out to mark Clarke on Sunday week. Cavanagh did not particularly want to play at full forward, and it showed. Clarke is an out and out number 14, who will relish the physical battle against a smaller man and will simply shrug off most tackles.  No one really knows if Colgan or possibly Turley, who are both over 6 ft, can play full back at county level, but they are much more likely to present a proper physical challenge to Clarke.

Taking Murphy out of the half back line and putting him on McDonald is also a big risk, but we need to look at the context. Howard and Rafferty are decent defenders, but again on the small side, and they found both Penrose and McCullough tough going on Saturday night. McDonald is in a different league to the Tyrone corner forwards, and, especially if Clarke is regularly wining possession for him, is capable of running riot.

It's not an exact comparison by any means, but Seamus Moynihan was at one stage by some distance the best centre half in Ireland. When Kerry needed a full back, Moynihan was switched there without hesitation and he did the job required. Armagh will play a two-man full forward line which will demand physically strong and mobile defending on our part. It will also need an extra defender in there, which might be the best role for McCartan. Naming the same starting defence as against Tyrone would be the easy call, but the wrong one.

Wobbler is correct to point out that switching Murphy to a marking job at corner back will deprive us of the outstanding wing-half in Ulster so far this season, but the problem is that someone will have to take on McDonnell. While the three guys in our full back line on Saturday played their hearts out, it is difficult to see any of them coping with McDonnell. Murphy's attacking instincts might have have to be sacrificed on a one-off basis, as McDonnell on a good day could hit us for 1-6 or more from play which would cost us the game.

I fully agree that Colgan should have been tried at full back at a much earlier stage, and, together with others on this board, I have been suggesting it since last year. He plainly did not want to play there, but he now seems to have accepted that it is his best chance of a starting spot for the time being.

I thought McArdle did not do badly there in the league, but I trust Ross (although I still do not understand why Murphy did not start in Omagh) and it seems clear McArdle is not considered ready for championship football and our no 3 against Armagh will be either Colgan or McCartan.

The bottom line is that, if we can restrict Clarke and McDonnell, this is a game we are capable of winning. You can make statistics prove anything, but, even through an otherwise depressing period, our record in Ulster semi-finals is good. We have failed to get past the first round in nine seasons out of the last 12, but we have won our last four semis in row (94, 96, 99, 03).  As we all know, we are also long overdue a win against Armagh.

I'm not sure if we are all back down to earth after Saturday night, but the Armagh performance today gave us much to think about. Cavan may be an ordinary side but, as we know from 2004 and 2007,  they are a tough proposition on their own ground. However, Armagh, without playing particularly well, won very easily today and, only for the excellent Cavan keeper Reilly, could have been ten or twelve points ahead at the end.

Armagh may be in transition, but bringing in a new manager seems to have given them an edge which was missing from the Tyrone set-up. At the same time, Peter McDonnell let himself down today by claiming that he knew nothing about our game, which was played about ten miles from where he lives. It was a comment which indicated that he was worried abut us, and we can probably look forward to some more carry-on in the approach to the semi.

We will go into the match as outsiders, which suits us fine, but our defence is still the big issue. While McVeigh did well again in nets, the full back line from Saturday is probably too small for the likes of Ronan Clarke and Stevie McDonnell. Dan McCartan was one of our heroes on the night, and battled with Cavanagh for everything, but he would be giving away about three stone and four inches against Clarke, who is a specialist full forward and not a converted midfielder like Cavanagh.

James Colgan was not on for long at full back, but he might be worth trying. The obvious marker for McDonnell would have been Martin Cole, but a final appeal against his suspension seems unlikely, so, having snubbed out Dooher, Paul Murphy should be the man for the job, with Luke Howard keeping his place in the other corner.

Doyle and Carr are certainties in the half-back line, but Rafferty, while he may join them, is is on the small side . Lynch did not do badly at midfield, but the pairing there should really be Gordon and Ambrose.

Benny got 1-3 from play switching between the lines, and there is is a strong case for keeping him in in the half forwards with McKernan, who did well when he came on, and Clarke just getting in ahead of Kearney. Sexton needs a free role, and Hughes and McComiskey could do the job in the full forward line. The evidence is that Murtagh would be better coming off the bench, but we have plenty to consider over the next fortnight.

Back from the game, and in the bar some people were saying that it was better than Celtic Park in 94. Not sure about that, but it was fantastic anyway. While it has not been easy being a Down supporter over the last ten or 12 years, this was what it is all about. God bless them all, and I can't wait to see Benny's goal on tv.

This is fairly simple. The 90s were defined by the arrival of the top Ulster teams. Down led the way, in 91 and 94. Linden was our most talented player.  McCartan was the most inspirational. Blaney was the guy who made the difference between winning and losing. No contest.

Dubh driocht has plainly been on the Magners - with our new-look defence, and a forward line which can do without McComiskey, how will Tyrone get within two points of us ?

Word is that the team named by Goldenyears is spot on. It's a bit hard to believe that Jackie is starting again, but Ross must feel he is needed for the physical battle early on. While McCartan is small for a full back, he will go for everything. The sooner McComiskey appears, the better.

Lynch is all heart but he could only be considered in an emergency. He was not at the races in Omagh and Colgan is the logical partner for Ambrose. It sounds as though we will be lucky to get the last 10 minutes out of Dan at full forward. McComiskey must start, as the surprise factor is now gone. If we hold him back in the hope that he can run at a tiring opponent, Tyrone will send on a fresh defender as soon as he appears. McArdle started the league reasonably well but lost confidence along the way. He will probably have to come in if Cole's suspension is confirmed. Tyrone obviously have injuries as well, but it is difficult to believe that we can survive the loss of our only experienced out and out defender and the midfielder who on Sunday's form is the best in Ulster in his position. However, we will not be lacking either motivation or support on Saturday night.

St Brigid's had no choice. They are on the Antrim side of the Lagan, and could not play in Down. Their new ground is just across the motorway from Casement Park.