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There's been very little talk about the injury time free which was given against McComiskey, but from where I was sitting it looked a clear foul by McGee. If that decision had gone our way, we would have won a game which for most of the first half seemed on course for a hiding on a scale which would have ended the career of the managers and about half of the players.

In fairness to Ross, having picked the wrong team, he made all the right substitutions and out-thought Harte when the pressure was on.
The early stages were among the most embarrassing of the last decade, with our defence a shambles from the opening seconds. Tyrone probably should have had five goals before the break, but after that the players showed immense courage and the replay could go either way.

McVeigh was among those who seemed to freeze at the start and his kick-outs were not great. He had little chance with the goals, made a fine save from Penrose and his handling under pressure in the second half was impressive.

Howard could have been taken off early on, but he steadied and generally used the ball well. Cole was something similar and drove forward well after the break. He was lucky to escape with a yellow for throwing out his elbow, and nearly did the same thing a few minutes later. Murney is a decent young player, but he could not cope at all today and should probably have been replaced even earlier than he was.

Rafferty worked hard, but is on the light side and lost possession badly a couple of times. Doyle had a shaky start, but improved and is capable of much more. Carr was another defender who was woeful early on, but he came into it in the second half.

Gordon was outstanding from start to finished and played a real captain's game. Lynch tries hard but he is not really a county player.

Our starting forwards were much of a muchness, and managed a point from play between them. Benny scored a goal and set up another but had a poor enough game and did not look particularly fit.

Apart from big Dan, our stars were all the subs.  Ambrose has taken a long time to make his mark at senior level, but he was magnificent all over the field today and even managed to finish as our top scorer. Murphy was excellent, McKernan was sound and McComiskey came very close to winning the game for us.

We have a lot to think about for the replay, but, amazingly after the first half display, we are still in the competition.

If the Down team listed above is correct, the two major omissions are Murphy and Rogers. If Murphy was match fit, he would have started. Rogers is a harder call, as he has yet to fully justify himself at county level but has by all accounts been playing well for the Stone.
While Lynch has obvious limitations, it is possible to make a case for him presenting a physical challenge for the first 45/50 minutes in Omagh and then being replaced by either Rogers or Colgan.

Fegan would be a little surprising, but he played consistently through the league, tackles back and is a fine free taker. It is debatable if he  is a better bet than McKernan, but McComiskey is very likely to come on for him sooner or later.

I think Pangurban is writing us off prematurely. I could see Sexton and Fegan dropping deep, with Clarke and Hughes at half forward and  Coulter and Murtagh up front. If we can keep it tight in the first half, which is a big ask, McComiskey could win it for us on a good day. It could also all go horribly wrong, but we live in hope.

The 98 game was definitely in Omagh, O'Neill. You had beaten us at Clones in 96 and 97 (after a replay), and in my totally unbiased opinion we were very unlucky not to win at least one of those matches. In 1998, our defence was struggling almost as much as it is now and  I think Tyrone got two goals in the first five minutes. However, we kept our nerve and Ross started hitting points from all angles. Shane Mulholland made a brilliant championship debut for us that day, but unfortunately his county career was a fairly short one. Canavan was back the following year at Casement (another sunny day), and we hammered Tyrone. You can probably appreciate why most Down fans wish the 90s had never ended.

5iveTimes, the 1983 league winning team included John McCartan, who would be a cousin of James and all the rest. I don't think Down have ever won a national title without a member of the extended McCartan family playing. Dan is unlikely to start on Sunday, but, as he showed in the Sigerson final last year, he will always give 100 per cent. I hope Ross shows some confidence and names his team on Thursday. I also hope it stays dry in Omagh. Our last championship win there, ten years ago this year, was a beautiful day in every sense. I also seem to remember that Ross was the MoM, so maybe that will be an omen.

The 1980s teams with Tommy McGovern and Mark Turley also had Paddy Kennedy at full back, who was the only one of the three to win an All Star (1981). In the 60s, we had Leo Murphy and Dan McCartan, and in the 90s Conor Deegan and Brian Burns. We have a fantastic tradition at in the number 3 jersey,which makes it all the more frustrating that the supply line has dried up over the last decade.  I would say McGovern was just about the pick of the bunch, as he was a natural captain and also outstanding at corner back and midfield, so he must be the best Down player never to win an all Ireland. I remember a league game at Newry about 25 years ago when he turned up late after working all night at Warrenpoint docks. Down struggled, he was sent on as a sub and still ended up as the man of the match.

Omagh will be an intimidating place, and McComiskey, as probably the smallest player in the Down squad and one with a big reputation,will be targeted. He can look after himself, and is capable of making an impact at any stage, but starting him for the first time ever in a championship match would be a huge risk. If things went wrong, his confidence would be hammered. The idea that he would single-handedly keep Down in the game, rather than nine points behind early in the second half, is unrealistic, to put it mildly. He was certainly brought on too late against Meath, but that match,in which we failed to score from play after the first minute, had long since been lost. If he appears after 45 or 50 minutes, and the tie is in the balance, everyone will get a huge lift and anything could happen.

The rumours about Colgan are increasing, and it would be great if Murphy is in as well. Rafferty would surely be a better bet than Howard, and it is hard to see Rogers being left on the bench. It could all mean something like this.

McVeigh; Rafferty (or Howard), Murney,Cole; Carr,Murphy, Doyle; Gordon, Colgan: Murtagh, Rogers,Hughes; Clarke,Coulter,Sexton.

Sexton would probably drop deep, Rogers would be in and around midfield and the remaining four forwards would switch as needed.
McComiskey would appear fairly soon after the break, with McKernan the next option. I think we could do worse than give this a go.

It was a bad day for Leeds, but we have no one to blame other than ourselves. The occasion seemed to get to us, and we were lucky to get to the break at 0-0. However, if we had kept it tight at the start of the second half, Doncaster were bound to get frustrated. Instead, after one minute, we left their centre forward standing at the penalty spot unmarked from a corner. After that, we relied on the long ball far too much and our crossing was dreadful. The only person who might have changed things was Freedman, and he was inexplicably replaced by the ineffective Kandol. In fairness to the team, it was such a roller coaster season that they were nearly bound to tire at the very end. At least we will hopefully start level with everyone else the next time round. 

It would be sensible to keep McComiskey on the bench in Omagh and throw him on when the game opens up in the second half. His club form for Dundrum has apparently not been that hot, but quality and pace should always come good in the end. Can anyone say if Paul Murphy is likely to be fit ?

Colgan made his debut in injury time against Donegal in the 2006 USC without touching the ball and has not played a competitive game for Down since then. It would be a major surprise if he started against Tyrone, and most Down supporters are expecting Gordon and Rogers to be our midfield pairing. There is not much of a buzz in Down in the moment, to put it mildly, but you never really know.

He didn't do Thunder Road in Belfast so hopefully it will make the cut for Dublin. The show is supposed to start at 7.30pm, but does anyone know if there is a support act and what time Bruce will probably start and finish ?

As the club which is currently top of division three seems to be the victim of more spelling mistakes than any other team in Down, perhaps we could confirm once and for all that it is not Glassdrumman, Glassdrummond or Glasdrummand but GLASDRUMMAN.

Ifdown2, I'm just a face in the crowd, but I thought St Mary's looked a very capable u16 team, with big strong players down the middle, when I saw them. It must be great for the Dromara players to go from a club which has difficulty fielding at underage level to one which should get a decent run in the East Down league. However, as I think Leitrim had four players in the last Down squad to reach a senior Ulster final in 2003, it is not a good sign for the rest of us if they are short of bodies. Is it correct that Leitrim hurlers have now joined with Castlewellan for u16s ?

At u16 level, St Mary's is indeed a combination of Leitrim and Dromara so it is almost certainly the same at minor. It's still a bit hard to believe that a club with Leitrim's tradition cannot field under-age teams on their own.

According to today's IN, Down seniors beat an understrength Monaghan by 4-15 to 0-10 in a challenge at a new training centre in Cloghan yesterday. The Down team was fairly familiar, apart from John McAreavey reportedly playing at full back and Dan McCartan allegedly scoing 0-2 from wing forward. I'm assuming that a local correspondent has simply mixed the two players up - can anyone confirm ?