Down will start Sunday's Ulster football semi-final against Fermanagh with the same team that earlier this month beat Monaghan. It means manager Paddy O'Rourke will again keep the experienced James McCartan in reserve, despite his influential introduction in the two-point win over Monaghan.
McCartan replaced full-forward Dan Gordon in the last quarter at a time when Down were struggling to hold on to a one-point advantage. Within seconds he set up corner forward Ronan Murtagh for a point, and shortly afterwards added the defining point himself.
Yet O'Rourke was content to once again go with the even mix of youth and experience. Team captain Seán Ward will again partner another of Down's most influential players Gregory McCartan at midfield, with another of their more experienced players Brian Burns at full back.
Surprisingly, Sunday's game in Clones is the first championship meeting between Down and Fermanagh since 1984, when Down prevailed by seven points. A year earlier Fermanagh recorded their only ever championship win over Down. Fermanagh manager Dominic Corrigan will announce his team today.
Donegal manager Brian McEniff has a couple of fresh player injury concerns ahead of their All-Ireland qualifier against Sligo. It is hoped, however, defenders Noel McGinley and Barry Monaghan, who both featured in the first round qualifier win over Longford, can be passed fit later in the week.
Full-back McGinley is struggling with a calf injury, while centre-back Monaghan was detained in hospital overnight after suffering concussion during Four Masters' win over St Naul's at the weekend. Already set to miss out with a knee injury is Brendan Devenney, while Paul McGonagle and Mark Crossan remain long-term absentees.
It is hoped, however, defender Kevin Cassidy, who was forced to cry off shortly before the Longford game, will be fit. Jim McGuinness, who started on the bench the last day, is also likely to return to the starting line-up.
GAA president Seán Kelly, meanwhile, has defended the increased use of video evidence by the Games Administration Committee. In a special interview recorded for UTV's End to End, which will be broadcast tonight, Kelly outlined the importance of the method as a tool in maintaining his disciplinary standards.
"Anything which helps improve discipline and produce a fairer system for players and officials can only be good for the game," said Kelly, while adding that such evidence could be used to both charge and exonerate players.
Kelly also reiterated his determination to split the GAC in two - one branch dealing with fixtures and the other with discipline. Although the GAC "do a very good job under the circumstances," he said it was time for the separation of roles because of the increased workload in recent years with the qualifying system and the appointment of referees.
The area of marketing and promotion would also be tackled to a greater extent in the near future, with Kelly admitting "second best" isn't good enough anymore: "You will see us getting our act together in the future and presenting our games better," he said.
Coincidentally, an announcement is expected next Tuesday of the first sponsorship of the All-Ireland under-21 football and hurling championships. Kelly had already hinted that the under-21 championship was one of the GAA competitions that was greatly under-promoted, and the new sponsorship, believed to be the Erin food company, will mark one of the first new promotional ventures that he is keen to pursue in the near future.
DOWN (SF v Fermanagh): M McVeigh; J Clarke, B Burns, B Grant; J Lavery, A Molloy, M Cole; S Ward, G McCartan; L Doyle, B Coulter, C McCrickard; M Walsh, D Gordon, R Murtagh.
