PETER McGRATH has his mind set on guiding Down to a third Ulster senior football championship title this decade in Clones on Sunday. And if he succeeds he intends to complete the job in similar vein to 1991 and 1994 by following through to All-Ireland triumph.

Tyrone are currently obscuring the view of football's greater horizon from the Mournes. However, the Down manager said. "No, I haven't given a moment's thought to anything after Sunday." The Ulster champions are due to play either Dublin or Meath in the All Ireland semi final on August 25th.

McGrath's team has changed more than people are inclined to accept since winning. the All Ireland five years ago and again two years back.

"I accept that there is a familiar ring about it but it has changed quite a lot, given that five years is a comparatively short time in a footballer's career. I would agree that there is a hard core of players still there."

He goes into the litany Greg Blaney D J Kane, James McCartan, Ross Carr Conor Deegan, Paul Higgins, Gary Mason. But there would be people who played in `94 and didn't play in `91. People like Brian Burns and Gregory McCartan and others. like Finbar Caulfield and Shorty Treanor who did not play in those years.

"The team has undergone numerous changes positionally as well. Gary (Mason) was a forward in two All Ireland victories, now he is a half back in an Ulster final and Conor (Deegan) of course moved from full back to midfield between 1991 and 1994."

McGrath said. "Getting to know players well is a thing that can work for and against you. If you are working continually with the same bunch of players then familiarity and predictability can creep in and it takes new faces coming in to brighten it up just to give it some impetus. I think the players who have come in over the past couple of years have done that."

McGrath expects Sunday's game against Tyrone to be fast and furious. "All teams in modern day Gaelic football aspiring to winning an All Ireland have to be mobile there is no such thing a people sticking rigs idly to the positions any longer. It is a very very fluid game that we now play."

He talks freely about his own team's strengths and potential weaknesses with particular reference to the three championship games against Donegal, Monaghan and Cavan played this season. "In these matches we have played very good football, free flowing and penetrating football. We have been cohesive, showing a good understanding and as well as that we have got a fair amount of physical strength.

He then expresses criticism of his own side. "In the three matches, however, we have only seen that type of play in patches. On Sunday we would definitely need to perform at that level more consistently over longer periods of the game."

His players have spoken to him about this inconsistency, the very sort that surfaced after Gregory McCartan's second half goal against Cavan. "By their own admission some of our players know that individually they haven't played as well as they are capable of playing. These players have sufficient experience to realise that when they privately reflect on their own performances they will know that they have a bit of improvement to find. We have to get that improvement on Sunday, and if we do I think we will have a good chance of winning the game.

McGrath is impressed by a number of aspects about Tyrone's game. "Against Derry they looked to be a very hungry and single minded team. This is a vital ingredient for championship football. They no longer rely on Peter Canavan. Canavan, of course, is still the most important player they have but now he is receiving a lot more help from the likes of Ciaran McBride and Adrian Cush.

"This makes for greater balance in the team and more variety among their for wards. Then there is their great mobility which, as I have already said is vitally important in the modern game.

The quality of the two teams for such an eagerly awaited final is not in question, says McGrath. "Tyrone were the All Ireland finalists last year and we were champions the previous year. The match has created an enormous amount of interest up here. Tyrone, because of their win over Derry, go in as slight favourites. We may not have played consistently well in the championships I think we have done enough to suggest that we are serious contenders for Sunday's. game."

The Down coach dismisses the suggestion that an Ulster team's failure at the final hurdle last year, for the first time since 1991, indicates a drop in Ulster standards. "Dublin, as a team, were knocking on the door for a long time and had been unlucky not to win at least one All Ireland. So, the fact that they beat Tyrone last year by a point was no discredit to Tyrone, nor indeed any discredit to Ulster football."

"No, I don't think standards have gone down in Ulster, far from it. Whoever comes out of Leinster will not be taking the Ulster challenge lightly, I would imagine."