McKernan hopes Down take their shot in Clones and gives his thoughts on the potential return of summer football

While the underdogs tag will certainly be worn by Down in Clones, McKernan is hopeful that the Mournemen take a shot as championship football is all about that.

“That’s why you commit each year in the hope that you can take that big scalp," McKernan told the Newry Reporter.

Down beat Donegal 2-13 to 1-11 last year in the Ulster Championship quarter-final at Pairc Esler but the semi-final was an entirely different story at St Tiernach’s Park with the Orchard county hitting Down with four goals in front of the 22,520 strong crowd in a game that finished 4-10 to 0-12.

That was a bitter pill to swallow for Conor Laverty’s men and while both sides are in very different places in terms of their development, the Mournemen will have something to prove on Saturday.

“Armagh will be under no illusions of what Down will bring, particularly the disappointment that they didn’t perform last year against Armagh and give them more of a game in Clones,” said McKernan.

“Both teams will have learned a lot about each other. And I think you can see the Armagh team where they are at the minute last week against Fermanagh. They are competing very hard for Ulster Championships and it could be Down’s free shot at them next week and I think they’ll give it a good shot.”

McKernan agrees that Down have been under immense pressure throughout their league campaign with both promotion to Division 2 on the line and the chance to play in the Sam Maguire.

While promotion was secured with an unbeaten league campaign, defeat to Westmeath in the league final means Down’s last chance for top tier All-Ireland Championship football this summer is reaching the Ulster final.

“The trajectory Down are on is probably something similar to where Armagh were a few years ago,” said the Burren clubman.

“The thought that Down could have spent another year in Division 3, that heaps pressure on everybody. The supporters felt it. The players it and I'm sure management felt it. I think when you get your team developing how you want them in terms of how they're playing, the next level is where they're competing and who they're competing against. I think this Down team are ready for that step to Division 2 the same as Armagh two or three years ago when they went up from Division 3 to 2 and up to 1. You need to be in those top 14-15 teams consistently. Championship this year is a free shot at Armagh but again an important game, because the prize is huge which is Sam Maguire football as well as an Ulster final for Down. And like that with Armagh, they're looking for maybe a bit of revenge from Derry last year. Penalty kicks in any final is a hard way to lose.”

The good news for Down is the return of Clonduff’s Barry O’Hagan from a year-long injury and Kilcoo’s Shealan Johnston.

“With Shealan and Barry back in the panel it just means that Down have that wee bit more pace and creativity on the ball,” feels McKernan.

“Barry's a very dynamic player but he’s also a very skilful player and I think with Shealan Johnston as well, he adds a whole lot of kicking ability and speed to that middle third that Down already have a lot of speed in. I think that will be something Armagh will be going out to stifle a bit and something that Down will try to utilise. They'll have to come up with the Plan B of kicking the ball more because Clones will lend itself to that and I think they did attempt it a bit in Pairc Esler but the restrictions of space in Pairc Esler is very different to what Clones will provide. I think that was the biggest thing coming away from Croke Park [against Westmeath] as fans and I'm sure the team as well that they maybe didn't try to kick the ball a wee bit more. They did try it a few times but I think when you see the physique of Pat Havern and Odhran [Murdock] and now the ball-winning of Barry that kicking option should be very strong for Down. I think they can mix and match their kicking game with a running game to give a lot of headaches for Armagh.”

One thing Down won’t want is conceding goals like last year and like Fermanagh did against Armagh.

“Last year Armagh hit Down for a couple of real sucker-punch goals. Some of them were well-worked but a lot of them were gifted on Down's part. In league games you can cope with that – you can be a wee bit more gung-ho where both teams can put in a couple of goals – but in championship football with the pressure and the stakes are high goals are huge.

“For a young Down team who are developing like that, it's very hard to revive your strategy and your energy in a big game and I think that was probably the most frustrating thing last year from a Down point of view, that they had to absorb those goals and really the game was over at half-time.

“I think now, after winning that match against Antrim – albeit after two mediocre performances – but at the end of the day, they got their promotion that they set out for at the start of the year. Croke Park was disappointing but one big win sets up a season and the games in the past that we won, we beat Monaghan twice when we weren’t expected to and that’s what Championship is all about.”

Asked his thoughts on GAA President Jarlath Burns' recent comments about a return to the old calendar for inter-county football and the All-Ireland finals in September, McKernan sees the benefits and also the complications.

“It's something that, probably in hindsight as I've retired now, with the split season, I see the benefit of the club season and club players getting a proper window of opportunity. And I think that's one of Jarlath's biggest things, is his ethos around his own club, but it's going to be very hard to see how it's going to be implemented,” he feels.

“But hopefully we're to go back to the old system if there was a definite calender whereby there was a four or six week window that the players get sole access to their clubs. But when you think about that, you look at the league programme at the minute and teams that want to get out of Division 3 then their ability to switch to championship mode. It's very hard when you're involved in a team to move from one team to another – from county duty to club duty and not have one eye on the other.

“It's going to be a tricky one, when you look at the likes of Dublin and Kerry. They're always going to be in the last eight discussions of championship football and when you think about that compared to other counties, the one championship structure fitting all, I don't know where that's going to sit - the creativity around that to make it work - because at the minute I think warm championship days and big summer football events, if they're trying to create that sort of festival of football, which our inter-county game is, it's a selling point for the game. It's a shop window for kids to see it against soccer and rugby. So I think if Jarlath Burns can come up with something like that, I think the Down championship works pretty well and I think it is something that would be very relevant to each county what way it's approached. It's exciting to think that that could happen but again it will be a lot of people and a lot of meetings involved.”