Armagh's victory over Down in the Ulster Minor football final earlier this month delighted their manager Paul McShane — but it also provided him with a sharp lesson to absorb.

While the orchard county certainly upset the formbook in claiming the provincial crown, their tame surrender of hard-won possession on too many occasions caused grave concern to their management team.

Now when the team goes in against Kildare in tomorrow’s All Ireland quarter-final at Cavan (2.00pm), McShane is hopeful that his players will not facilitate the opposition to quite the same extent that they did in the Ulster showdown.

“You would have to say that we gave the ball away too often in that game,” admits McShane. “But these boys are on a learning curve and I have no doubt that they will be sharper tomorrow. Kildare might not just let us off the hook so easily. We know they are a good side and my players are aware that they simply cannot afford to make mistakes.”

It was a stirring finish that eventually took Armagh to their provincial triumph and if McShane can manage to have this effort replicated for the duration of tomorrow’s match, then his team will be in with a big chance of reaching the semi-finals.

Peter Carragher and James Donnelly form a durable midfield while up front the full-forward line of Robbie Tasker, Eugene McVerry and Gavin McParland is a particularly lively unit.

Indeed, the trio have landed the lion’s share of Armagh’s championship scores to date but while manager McShane will again hope they come up trumps tomorrow, he is even more anxious that his defence should remain solid.

“Kildare have shown that they can break quickly and manufacture scores. We have to keep our guard up,” says McShane who has brought in former Armagh ace Oisin McConville in the recent past to help spur his side along.

Former Kildare player Brian Murphy is in charge of his county’s Minor side and, while disappointed that they fell to Dublin in the Leinster final after extra-time, believes they will have reaped benefits from this experience.

“We missed a few chances in that game which did not help us,” explains Murphy.

Aussie Rules target Paul Cribbin, Cian Reynolds and Darrock Mulhall are their key players.