Kevin Cassidy believes the current crop of Tyrone stars have to do what Donegal did in 2011 – and that is to slay the dragon that has dominated Ulster football.
In 2011, Donegal faced Tyrone in an Ulster SFC semi-final, the odds were stacked against them.
Tyrone were an experienced dominant force, that had won numerous Ulster titles and three All-Ireland titles.
However, under the tutelage of Jim McGuinness, they made the breakthrough and went on to land their first Ulster title in 19 years.
Cassidy said that psychological breakthrough was huge, and Donegal kicked on to win the All-Ireland the following year.
Since that semi-final in 2011, Donegal have contested every single Ulster final, winning titles in 2011, 2012 and 2014 – and have been the dominant force in Ulster.
Former star Cassidy feels there are many similarities between that Donegal team of 2011 and this current Tyrone team.
In his column with the Gaelic Life, Cassidy wrote, “In 2011, we trained like animals all year, and every night at training the word Tyrone would be mentioned at least three times.
“Are we training as hard as Tyrone? Can we beat Tyrone? How can we beat Tyrone?
“In a way we were obsessed with them, but we had to be to be in with any chance of defeating them.
“Tyrone were top dogs at the time, and they had this air of invincibility about them, so once we breached that the sky was the limit for us, which is exactly where that team went in 2012.
“This young Tyrone team reminds me of us back then, they are fresh, hungry and probably sick to the teeth of watching Donegal succeed while they sit at home twiddling those thumbs.
“Like 2011, the time has now come for them to back up their talk, the Donegal dragon will enter the Clones arena so it’s up to to this young Tyrone team to slay it.
“There is very little between the sides, and a lucky bounce of a ball could decide it, but I fancy Donegal to sneak it by two.”
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