Joe Brolly has questioned Colm Cooper again and claimed the current Kerry team are at the end of a cycle, not the start.

It was a rivalry that defined a generation of Ulster football in more ways than one.

He saw off Kerry’s Tom Spillane and Meath hard man Mick Lyons in the space of a few mad weeks almost 20 years ago. So what ever became of Down powerhouse and All-Ireland winner Peter Withnell? Brendan O’Brien tracked him down

Down’s innate sense of their own worth comes from schools success – and nowhere is more pronounced than in St Colman’s in Newry. Brendan O’Brien paid a visit to the home of the All-Ireland SFC colleges champions

Abused, bullied and harassed in Tyrone, Armagh and Derry, the skilful forward is a protected species in Down. Which might explain a few things, suggests Paddy Heaney

AMID the hype and the hope, a kernel of doubt lurks in the minds of some in Down.

1. Terrific composure and vision in possession

A COLLEAGUE who sat in on the 1991 All-Star selection meeting was amused by the Northern lobby’s capacity to find ever more important bodily parts, organs, and constituents to equate with members of the Down team, which had just won the All-Ireland.

CONOR DEEGAN doesn’t remember the exact year. It might have been 1989 or maybe the season after. Whenever, it was a game played in the Marshes and he recalls it as the catalyst for Down’s All-Ireland successes in the 1990s.

NOT so long ago, Benny Coulter made his way down to Dublin to collect a player of the month award.

THOSE who saw his performance that day will never forget it. The game itself is considered a classic. Many who were in Coalisland that afternoon would point to the 1989 MacRory Cup final between St Patrick’s Maghera and St Colman’s Newry as the best they ever witnessed.

DOWN manager James McCartan will not need to travel far if he wants advice about how to beat Kerry.

PUNDITS launching scathing attacks on the state of Gaelic football is nothing new but one of the modern game’s top exponents joined the chorus of disapproval yesterday.

While Cork and Kerry have mightily impressive credentials, Ulster teams will be confident that the Munster superpowers are far from invincible

A GOAL by Colm O’Driscoll two minutes into injury time gave Cork a dramatic victory over Down in a tumultuous Cadbury All-Ireland U-21 football final at Portlaoise yesterday.

Down football manager Paddy O'Rourke has been ratified for another term as Mourne County manager as expected after leading them out of the dark ages to the Ulster final this year.

Down 2-10

Down 2-10