There’s a firm belief within the Tyrone camp that they can go all the way in the Nicky Rackard Cup, according to skipper Brendan Begley.
A stunning 15-point demolition of a fancied Donegal team propelled the Red Hands into the semi-finals, and they’re just 70 minutes away from Croke Park.
Just weeks after suffering a 23 points drubbing in the NHL Division 3A final, Tyrone turned the tables in spectacular fashion on their north-west rivals, cruising to a 4-19 to 0-16 victory at Carrickmore.
“Our aim would definitely be to go on and win the Nicky Rackard,” said Begley.
“We're probably stronger than a couple of years ago and Mattie (Lennon) has all the top hurlers in the county playing. We're fearing no-one and pushed Armagh and Derry close the last few years, so there's nobody that far away.”
But full-back Begley insisted that the players won’t be getting carried away with their latest success.
“Games between ourselves and Donegal are always close, there's never too much between us and the two wins each this year prove that. We're into the semi-final but the big thing is to push one and the fact that we've beaten one of the favourites means nothing.
“The important thing is to concentrate on getting to the final. All the teams that are going to be in the last four are good teams, we know them well, but at the same time we also know that we're capable of reaching the final.
“It's going to be tough no matter how comes up against us. But to get to Croke Park would be massive, especially for me because I wasn't there the last time in 2014. This is a good Tyrone side and there was definitely some hurt after losing so heavily to Donegal in the league final.”
Tyrone now have a three-week break from their hectic schedule ahead of the semi-final against an opponent yet to be decided.
The time off will aid the recovery process for a handful of injured players, including Aidy Kelly, Matthew Mulgrew and Christopher Cross, who missed last weekend’s win over Donegal.
“There are a lot of good players within Tyrone. We have got a good momentum, but there's a few injuries and the few weeks off until the semi-final won't do us any harm in terms of refreshing us again.”
A strong wind favoured Tyrone in the first half at Pairc Colmcille on Saturday, and they made the best possible use of it.
Conor Grogan banged in two goals as they built up a 17 points interval lead, leaving Donegal with a huge task.
“We were up against things throughout the game, but the good start gave us a good boost even though everybody knew at half-time that there was still a lot of work to be done. It definitely wasn't easy because Donegal always threatened to come back at us,” said Begley.
“The wind was a huge factor that was probably worth ten points to both teams, as was seen in the second half for them. There was a big score racked up in the first half and it was a case of keeping things tight in the defence after half-time.
“All the goals came at important times. One of the things that was stressed at half-time was the need to take every chance to make sure we got over the line and the two goals were really important because of that.”
