Tyrone come of age in time to face Derry

"DERRY are sitting waiting for us. They have waited 12 months for us and they have us firmly in their sights," said Tyrone's joint manager Art MacRory.

MacRory went on to endorse the view of his star corner forward Ciaran McBride, who asserted that Tyrone had matured from being boys last year, to being men this time round.

"Yes, I think we are a better side than last year, but we still have to prove it," said MacRory. He added: "Fermanagh had their problems before the game and it probably spilled onto the pitch. We certainly got it a helluva lot easier than we had expected. We got some good scores, but there will be a lot more pressure on us against Derry."

What is he likely to say to them on Tuesday night at training? "Basically I will say `Fermanagh are behind us, let's focus on the Derry boys'. "We are more like one club than a county team," said Ciaran McBride. `Just like a happy family," he added.

Fermanagh goalkeeper Cormac McAdam, probably in a better position than any of his team mates to see what was happening, was frank about the whole scenario. "From where I stood it was like a sea of red and white coming at you. They came at us like a hot knife through butter. Nonetheless, I thought that we would come back at them in the second half with the wind advantage. Derry will test them."

Match hero Peter Canavan, who hit 1-8 of the winners' tally, said: "We had expected something similar to last year, but you must remember that Fermanagh's strengths were severely weakened by the loss of some of their best players. It's a bit too early to judge us yet. I am happy as long as we are winning. We will know a lot more about ourselves after the Derry match."

Brian Dooher said that Tyrone had to go for it. "We were on a hiding to nothing."