GOING out on the pitch knowing that they “have the work done” is as a result of how Jim McGuinness has “tightened standards”, says Donegal forward Daire Ó Baoill.
Scorer of two goals against Derry, he hit two points against Tyrone on a day when he was taken off right after kicking the second before being brought back on again in extra-time.
Donegal have come through the hard side of the Ulster draw to land in a final with last year’s runners-up Armagh in two weeks’ time.
Their win over Tyrone was very different to the ambush they laid for Derry eight days previous but they found their way out of Celtic Park with the result over Brian Dooher’s men.
“He [McGuinness] brings a lot of belief to what we do and how we approach things. He brings a lot of pride to the jersey and the people.
“He always goes on about the roar behind you, you’ve the 16th man when the green and gold is flooding in behind you to Derry today.
“A lot of belief you have now when you step out on the pitch that we’ve the work done and things like that, just keeps taking over.
“It’s a lot easier going into games when you know you have that kinda work done than having the doubt in your head and approaching games like that.
“It’s tightening the standards is very good. A lot of the simple things that he’s just cleaned up on that you would maybe have taken for granted before.
“Just putting into perspective of where we were at and where we could go. We’re just taking it step by step now and it’s falling into place.
“Belief in yourself and the system that he puts into you and the role you’re given, your repetition. Just day-to-day, to show what you need to do, little things in terms of your nutrition and your sleep.
“How it all adds up in the long grass, how the months add up. It shows the last 10 minutes of that game, it probably added a few percent.”
Last year’s All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final between the same two teams was seldom referenced in the build-up, where Tyrone eased to victory.
Loathed as he was to, Ó Baoill couldn’t help but hark back to it in order to draw contrast.
“Look back to last year, and I don’t like to refer back to it, but once Tyrone took a three-point lead on us last year we didn’t know what to do. They could stretch it to seven and hold the ball and we were chasing tails.
“Tyrone might have went up three or four points at one stage there but we held our composure. It’s great to see that you’ve the right men to be able to take scores and it’s a varied bunch of boys able to do that.
“It’s brilliant to have it when you’re not relying on one or two men out there.”
