Tyrone will bring the valour of the warrior to their All-Ireland MFC semi-final battle with the Rebels, according to team captain Cormac Devlin.
If they can reproduce the levels of courage and intensity they displayed in the Ulster final a week ago, he believes they can get the better of Cork at Tullamore on Saturday.
“We’ll not shy away from the challenge. We know they’re a big physical team, but we’ll go down and show the same tenacity as we did in the Ulster final,” said Devlin.
“We’ll show that warrior spirit and put it up to them.”
The Ardboe teenager never doubted the character of his players, even through they went into the provincial decider un-tested, having coasted through one-sided ties against Down and Fermanagh.
And they rose to the challenge magnificently in a high tempo clash with Donegal, finishing strongly with two late goals at Brewster Park.
“I think we proved a point. There was a lot of people who maybe didn’t think we had that warrior spirit when the game was tight to pull through.
“But we showed that we have and it will only stand to us going into the All-Ireland semi-final.
“I know we didn’t get the opportunity to show it, but I knew we had a team full of dogs, who are just willing to work.
“You wouldn’t believe it, but we have matches like that every week in training.”
A quality bench has made an impact in every game to date, and may be required again at O’Connor Park.
An injection of energy late in the game could make all the difference, according to the Tyrone skipper.
“We have a full squad with everyone just as good as each other, and we’re all pushing each other to be the best we can.”
Cork’s pacy and accurate front men carry a significant threat, but centre forward Devlin has total faith in a defence moulded by treble All-Ireland winning defenders Conor Gormley and Ciaran Gourley, both members of the backroom team.
“In the Ulster final, when we were under pressure in the second half I thought our defence was so solid.
“Whenever big Ruairi McHugh was sent off with a black card, I felt our defenders really pulled us out of a hole, and we broke at pace and Donegal couldn’t handle us when we ran at them.
“I had full faith in my team-mates towards the end to work together and pull ourselves through.”
Tyrone hadn’t won an Ulster title since 2012, but their captain insisted they didn’t feel any pressure to end that nine-year wait as they prepared for the decider against Donegal.
“It wasn’t really a pressure, it was more a driving factor to push us to go on and win it.
“Gerard Donnelly (manager) was letting us know in every training session that it had been nine years, and I felt it was more of a positive.
“It motivated us to be the team to go out and give this count something to celebrate again after the seniors’ victory.”
The players have responded to the promptings of a management and coaching team that has instilled belief and provided balance to the preparations for an intense series of competitive games.
“They’re all brilliant coaches, they know their stuff and they’re always there to help you, to motivate you and get you ready for these games. We’re so well prepared.
“Anything you see us doing, it was done in training, and we just try to replicate it in a match, so all the credit goes to the managers.”
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