Attempting to put Fermanagh's achievement into perspective is no easy task but there is a pattern developing.

In the 2001 All-Ireland football semi-final Meath dished out Kerry's heaviest ever championship defeat only to suffer a similar fate in the final against Galway. The syndrome struck again on Saturday.

Joe Kernan rarely lets things slip past him in matters of preparation so surely he envisaged the possibility of a dud display after the performance of the summer against Donegal in the Ulster final.

"There is always a fear because we were set up for the biggest fall of our life; them things happen," he said.

"Fair play to Fermanagh but I'm proud of my players for the way they fought to the death. It would have been handy after the miles some of them boys have on the clock to throw in the towel with 10 minutes to go but up to the last ball they fought.

"And maybe we were a wee bit unlucky with that last shot young Brian (Mallon) kicked under panic when we had men free. Disappointing, but that's a fact of life.

"We were beaten by maybe a hungrier team on the day but it's not the end of Armagh football. Just another chapter in the diary."

Kernan refused to fall on his sword in the corridor under the Cusack Stand but the current panel have seen a lot of summers. It is increasingly difficult for an amateur player to maintain the commitment, even with a drug as addictive as running out in Croke Park.

"But nobody would take anything away from Fermanagh today," continued Kernan. "Fermanagh were absolutely magnificent. They worked hard all over the field and ran themselves into the ground for each other. The last five minutes were the tensest five minutes you are going to see in Croke Park all year."

Charlie Mulgrew was surrounded by dictaphones. Interest in his utterances increases with every week. His Fermanagh team and his tactics have answered yet again the dismissive predictions of several high-profile pundits - who will all probably tip Mayo to beat them as well. The obvious question. How on earth did this happen?

"We had to decide whether we come down for the weekend or come down for the match so we tossed a coin and said, look, let's come down for the match. That's the way it worked," he joked, before hastily adding: "No, in fairness Fermanagh have been knocking on the door for some time now. They put as much work and effort in as any other county does. They would have been extremely unlucky down through the years and in fairness we got our fair share of luck this year.

"There's that spirit in this squad; it's more like a club team than a county team. They're very close. You don't have that many clubs in Fermanagh so they know each other very well. They gel well together, they bond well together."

And what of his players, those soon to become household names?

A bloodied Liam McBarron spoke with a clarity that gives an insight into the workings of a side that has come back from potential oblivion to be contesting the final four: to Fermanagh, Armagh were just another team to be scalped. Also, the Ulster factor was exploited: they benefited from the familiarity rather than letting history weigh them down.

"Over the last couple of years there has been very little difference between these two teams and especially when two Ulster teams are up for the charge on the day - there's never anything between them. It worked for us today," said McBarron.

It certainly did.

"I suppose we're lucky to get the point but that's the sort of game Armagh used to win. We won it today, thank God," he continued.

Did the universal expectation of an Armagh win provide motivation?

"We weren't looking to the media," he insisted. "We were looking to ourselves and we knew within ourselves that we were capable enough of winning that game.

"For generations and generations, Fermanagh people have been knocked and today hopefully we have put a bit of pride back into the county."

No one is arguing with that and few will dismiss them in future.