by Ronan McSherry
WITH many of the Tyrone team having two Celtic crosses in their hip pocket Phillip Jordan is adamant that they have not lost their appetite for more All Ireland titles. However he does acknowledge that before the superb performance against Dublin the team had been struggling to reach the heights of 2003 and 2005.
While supporters and the media are now drooling over Tyrone's latest display, the Moy double All Star is not getting carried away.
"We always believed we had it in us. Maybe there were a few doubts as we hadn't got anywhere near to that level of performance. All the motivation came from within. People maybe will say we wanted to prove to all the doubters out there but we weren't worried about what the press were saying. We wanted to prove to ourselves.
"Most of us have won one or two All Irelands and we wanted to get back up to that level. People will probably talk us up now. We were seen as rubbish before the Dublin game and now some see us as the greatest thing ever but I think the reality is we are somewhere in between that.
"I suppose at times you maybe doubt yourself whether you still have it. It was not that the hunger is gone but whether you are able to produce the performances. We haven't been able to do that in the last three years so we are certainly glad we got a good performance against Dublin. We are going to have to reach that sort of level again if we want to win the All Ireland. That has been our aim since the start of the year. People might have written us of but we still believed that we could do it and the Dublin game was just a stepping stone."
Despite the emphatic win over the Dubs there were no scenes of jubilation on the field as captain Brian Dooher called the players into a circle and laid out the challenge that lay ahead.
"Brian definitely was looking forward to the Wexford game," continued Jordan. "We have won nothing. We are in an All Ireland semi-final and after Down beat us our main aim was to get back to the All Ireland quarter-final, where we would have been if we had won Ulster.
"Now we have got over that and are two games away from where we want to be but Wexford have shown what they are capable of.
"People might say Dublin beat them handy and we beat Dublin handy but it doesn't work like that. Down beat us and Wexford beat them so you can look at it that way as well. We know it is going to be a tough match and while we enjoyed the Dublin victory for that evening, after that it was straight back to the hard work.
"We are definitely not looking past Wexford. No chance. We have struggled against those teams all year. Wexford are in the All Ireland semi-final for the first time in over 60 years. They are not going to lie down for us.
"Three years ago they beat us in the league semi-final. They are more than capable and they beat the Ulster champions Armagh who were a better team than us in Ulster. We certainly will be up against it."
Sunday will be the first time since 1973 that Tyrone minors and seniors have been on the semi-final bill. The Moy man is looking forward to a special day in Croke Park.
"It is definitely a great boost that both Tyrone teams have reached this stage and it should be a great day. It is brilliant for the county. The support has not been great this year. Against Dublin the supporters really stood up to be counted and with their backing we were able to rise to that.
"We knew we would be up against it with the Dublin crowd against us but it is good to have that backing."
