Tyrone legend Peter Canavan has warned that Down are a dangerous Ulster SFC final opponent, and the Red Hands face a stiff challenge in attempting to replicate the sheer brilliance of the performance that crushed Donegal.
Sunday’s Anglo-Celt Cup decider sees a resurgent Mourne side take on the reigning champions in a clash that few would have predicted just a few weeks ago.
Eamonn Burns takes his side to Clones with nothing to lose, but his players feel anything is possible following their shock win over Monaghan.
“The question is, can they (Tyrone) replicate that level of performance that they reached against Donegal, because I thought it was exceptional, it was brilliant to watch. The level that they were playing at was something else,” said Canavan.
“It’s very difficult to repeat that. Tyrone had Donegal eyed up for some months, they had a lot of reasons why they wanted to get one over on Donegal.”
The Red Hands routed Donegal with a devastating combination of power, pace and clinical finishing in the semi-final, but treble All-Ireland winner Canavan sees Down as a different prospect.
He was impressed by the hunger and tenacity they showed in their wins over Armagh and Monaghan as they turned the corner in spectacular fashion following a deeply worrying period of decline.
“This is different. Down are the team that have shown a ravenous hunger so far in both their victories in the Ulster Championship.
“It was their tenacity and their will to win against Monaghan that really stood out, so Tyrone would need to be ready for that.
“I think if Tyrone can match that aspect of the game, I believe Tyrone have the better footballers.
“Every game will bring up different variables and different ways to go at it, and Tyrone may need a different type of approach maybe at some stage to get over the line against Down.”
But Canavan rates the current Tyrone team very highly.
Having coached many of the emerging stars at U21 level, he understands what makes them tick and appreciates their potential.
“If you look at the players that got very little action against Donegal, then you could say certainly there’s quality there sitting on the bench.
“There’s men who came on, have been coming on, who are making a big impact, there’s a couple of players who played against Donegal who will feel that there’s so much more in them.
“So every game is different, and we are in a very privileged position in that we have got 23, 24 players to pick from that any sub that is used now is not going to weaken our cause whatsoever.
“It’s a team game now, there’s men that will come in for different games, there’s men that maybe didn’t start against Donegal that though that they should have been, but it’s a team game.
“There’s horses for courses and that’s the very fortunate position that Mickey as manager finds himself in at the minute.”
The six-time All-Star ranks the semi-final performance against Donegal right up there with any of the inspired displays he was part of during the glorious noughties, when Tyrone won three All-Ireland titles.
“Absolutely, without a doubt. I said immediately after it that it’s a great sign in any Ulster Championship match where you have at least seven of eight men to select for man of the match, and that was the case for that game against Donegal.
“You could have given it to any one of eight men, and I wouldn’t have argued, so you had so many players playing to their true potential, and that’s rare for that to happen in championship football at the minute.
“So I suppose we would just need to be careful, we can’t expect that every time this team goes out.
“But if they do, then Tyrone are going to be in a very good position moving forward.”
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