Tyrone captain Sean Cavanagh believes that his side's crushing All-Ireland football quarter-final victory over Armagh has laid the ghosts of last season's disappointing campaign to rest.
The Red Hand sent out a warning to all counties still involved in this year’s competition with a hugely impressive 3-17 to 0-08 win against their neighbours in Croke Park.
Their performance was in marked contrast to last year’s quarter-final against Mayo when the Ulster side slipped to a one-point defeat and Cavanagh was happy to finally erase the memory of that game.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, the Tyrone skipper said: "We came here to banish a few demons from this time last year and we’ve gone one step forward by doing that, but we know it’s only one step and we’ve a colossal game ahead of us in the semis.
"Last year was just unimaginable, we had a good year up until then and Mayo really taught us a lesson.
"We came here to try and fix that today and I think we’ve done that in a certain respect but we have to remember that there are huge challenges coming down the line.
"Whether it’s Dublin or Monaghan it’s going to be a step up from now on."
Cavanagh was making a record equalling 88th Championship appearance for Tyrone and as someone who has played in three All-Ireland winning teams, he’s happy with the balance the squad currently have.
Alongside old heads like Cavanagh are break-through players like David Mulgrew and the Ardboe teenager proved his worth against Armagh with two goals from play.
"I think we’ve been building in the last few years and this in another step on the ladder," Cavanagh said. "The ladder gets higher from now on in but we’ve got a fantastic group of players.
"You can see the youth coming on there now with young Davey Mulgrew hitting the goals.
"Guys are coming with a big point to prove and I think we’ve got a really good panel now but the tests are yet to come," he added.
