McGinnity says the win over Cork was the springboard

An emotional McGinnity agreed that all sorts of health and safety regulations were being broken by the Erne hordes.

"I know it's out of order but by Jesus they deserve to be there," said the Roslea man.

"What a marvellous sight that is for a Fermanagh person. We haven't been here before. These are heady days."

McGinnity lauded the contribution of manager Charlie Mulgrew to the greatest day in Fermanagh football history.

"Not everybody agreed with Charlie's managerial style but what he has done has been remarkable.

"He has got a team of players together who enjoy working with him.

"He has allowed them to play to their strengths. You look at the likes of young Eamon Maguire and Mark Little.

I thought we'd kicked ourselves out of it Peter McGinnity

"He has moulded them into an exhilarating unit that play with a lack of shackles - something that seemed to weigh us down last year against Tyrone.

"They believe in themselves and feel that anything is possible."

McGinnity believes the qualifier win over Cork was the key game in this team's stunning emergence.

"Talking to a few of the players after the Cork game, they were pleased to have put in a good performance at Croke Park after what had happened at headquarters against Tyrone last year."

In those final frenetic minutes on Sunday before Tom Brewster's last-gasp winner, McGinnity thought that the Fermanagh youngsters were going to waste the chance to create one of the biggest sensations in gaelic football history.

"I thought we'd kicked ourselves out of it. We'd had three or four good chances when it was fairly obvious that it was going to be a one-point game."

After the start that Fermanagh had endured, the chances of such an epic finish had seemed remote to McGinnity.

"I thought we needed to have a good start to have any chance but we had a terrible start.

Stephen Maguire also had his best game of this year's Championship Peter McGinnity

"But the boys produced such a wholehearted performance and you can't help pick out the likes of Shane McDermott and Raymond Johnston who were getting forward and playing all over the field.

"Tom Brewster showed great courage to keep at it after missing a couple of good chances earlier but the entire team never stopped.

"The two Armagh wing-backs Kieran Hughes and Aidan O'Rourke were both taken off which showed that Little and Eamon Maguire had skinned them.

"Stephen Maguire also had his best game of this year's Championship."

McGinnity also paid tribute to corner-back Ryan McCluskey who managed to subdue Steven McDonnell in the second half after the Armagh man's brilliant first half display.

"Towards the end, McDonnell won a ball and tried to take on McCluskey but Ryan stood him up, turned him around and McDonnell was then blown up for overcarrying.