Ronan McCarthy hopes Saturday’s win over Tipperary can act as a springboard for Cork to avoid relegation to Division 3.

Eight years on since Danny Hughes claimed an All-Star in Down’s improbable and glorious run to an All-Ireland final against Cork, he is still angry with football.

After years of searching and tinkering by Pete McGrath, Peter Withnell proved the final piece in the puzzle that brought Down to the 1991 All-Ireland football title.

Down look like a team who would love to play open and expansive football. Yet they know to do so would be folly.

When the disaffected demand change, they should have a fairly spectacular back-up plan at the ready.

When Down hammered an ailing Kerry side in the 1991 All-Ireland semi-final, team manager Pete McGrath was greeted by a breathless and beaming county administrator Dan McCartan.

UL 0-12 Queen’s University 1-8

Those otherwise engaged during Saturday’s Tyrone-Monaghan game and unfamiliar with the emerging crop of Tyrone footballers will have been perplexed by seeing the name of Tiernan McCann listed among the trending topics on Twitter late on Saturday evening.

There is one serious flaw with the defensive-based running game which has been slavishly adopted by virtually every team in the country.

Benny Coulter has claimed Down need Dan Gordon back to resolve their midfield problems if they are to challenge for an Ulster title.

Gaelic football has moved on, but the media and GAA officialdom are clinging to a past that has long since ceased to exist.

Once a manager earns the name of being a dictator, he can cut all the deals he wants, writes Paddy Heaney.

McKenna Cup

Benny Coulter has admitted that Down’s All-Ireland final loss to Cork in 2010 is the great regret of his career which will "eat me up until I go to my grave".

Benny Coulter last night joined the list of high profile inter-county players to announce their retirement in recent weeks, admitting it is with "a heavy heart" that he has called time on his 15-year career with Down.

No Declan O’Sullivan in the team, no Colm Cooper in the squad and two changes to the side that beat Mayo.

The battle to become Galway senior hurling manager next season has been cut to a two-horse race between current manager Anthony Cunningham and his former selector and coach Mattie Kenny.

In sport and in life, everybody wants to be like Eddy Merckx – the outrageously gifted Belgian cyclist whose natural talent and extra-terrestrial strength allowed him to brush aside his rivals with contemptuous ease.

James McCartan admitted it is "time for a new voice" in Down after announcing his resignation as team manager after five years in charge.

Down 0-11 Kildare 1-18

This morning's draw for rounds 2A and 2B of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship qualifiers has thrown up a juicy all-Ulster clash between Tyrone and the losers of the Monaghan-Armagh replay.

Down 4-18 Leitrim 0-9

Championship football referees will be told their handling of the black card must improve at next month’s meeting of the 16 match officials.

Down 0-12 Tyrone 3-11

‘Neither a wise man nor a brave man lies down on the tracks of history to wait for the train of the future to run over him.’ Dwight D. Eisenhower

Tyrone 2-11 Down 3-8

Tyrone 2-11 Down 3-8

ULSTER SFC PRELIMINARY ROUND:

It may, statistically at least, have tipped back in favour of convention last year with Dublin’s second title in three years but Sean Cavanagh has seen the benefits of the more scenic route to Croke Park in September.

Laois 1-16 Down 2-10

Galway 1-12 Down 0-08

ARMAGH

Derry, Tyrone, Armagh, Cavan and Down claimed wins in the Power NI McKenna Cup this afternoon.

Mark Sugrue (Cork)

Down GAA secretary Sean Óg McAteer has backed a motion from Burren to change the home and away draws in the qualifiers to benefit teams who have won first round games.

This hurling championship has been afforded a lot of plaudits this summer and rightly so.

Derry 0-13 Down 1-5

Derry 0-13 Down 1-05

The Donegal-Down game last Sunday was another stark reminder, to those who care, that the game of Gaelic football is in big trouble. It has become ultra-defensive and the overriding philosophy seems to be to stop the opposition from playing and pick up the debris left to try eke out a low-scoring win.

It ended, as expected, with a Donegal victory, but almost everything that preceded the final whistle in Cavan yesterday afternoon deprived us of our preconceptions about James McCartan’s team.

Jim McGuinness’ greatest trick is convincing the world that Donegal are invincible.

Down 0-09 Donegal 0-12

Donegal 0-12 Down 0-9