In the canon of great All-Ireland Football Championship shocks, Fermanagh's dramatic victory over Armagh in the 2004 All-Ireland SFC Quarter-Final will always figure highly.

Armagh were favourites to win the All-Ireland title on the back of hammering Donegal in the Ulster Final, but they came unstuck against a Fermanagh team that played with great character and skill.

Marty McGrath was one of Fermanagh's heroes on the day and would finish the year with a richly deserved All-Star award.

In a lengthy interview with GAA.ie, the St. Joseph's, Ederney man reflects on what was a hugely dramatic 2004 Championship campaign for Fermanagh.

Q: Fermanagh had had a sudden change of management ahead of the 2004 season when Dom Corrigan stepped down and was replaced by Charlie Mulgrew. A number of players then opted out for various reasons, so no-one was really predicting the county would have the championship run it did in 2004, were they?

Marty McGrath: Not particularly, I suppose. A lot of people knew that we had good players, it's just that we had had a big turn-over of players in the space of a year. But a lot of players of the one age were also coming through at that time together, most of us came through with the U-21s together. So it wasn't as if we were new to each other. It's a small county too and you'd know most people.

We were in Division 1 in the League and we got a couple of draws. I think we were five points down against Dublin and a man sent off and we ended up drawing the game. So that was a big moment for the team. We played Tyrone in the League as well and, okay, they beat us by a couple of points, but we played well.

Playing against top opposition in Division 1 probably helped us going into the Championship.

Tyrone beat us by four points in the first round of the Ulster Championship, but we were a bit unlucky. There was a penalty and a questionable point. We knew there was something there but you always need the luck of the draw then. We won two games after extra-time in the qualifiers and then beat Armagh by a point too. It could easily could have went the other way.

Q: You mentioned about young players coming through together. There were players there like Mark Little, Eamon Maguire, and Niall Bogue who wouldn't have been known at all on the national scene before 2004 who really caught fire that summer.

MM: There was a wee bit of a baton passed in 2004 in terms of the players. I don't know what management structures are like now, but in 2004 we were given a structure, yes, but we were let play as well to our strenghts. You had Mark Little and Eamon Maguire on the wings who added great space.

We had a good spine of strength to the team as well. You had Stephen Maguire full-forward, James Sherry centre-forward, Stephen McDermott was centre-back, and Barry Owens was full-back. So you had a good spine that would be as good as most team's.

We had that and then we had the speed and energy on the wings. We were a young team and fit naturally. It all added to the enjoyment of it all, that we had a good blend.

Q: What sort of impact did Charlie Mulgrew have on the group when he came in? Because his predeccessor Dom Corrigan would have been highly respected and left unexpectedly. Charlie had a different management style to Dom, but was he the right man at the right time?

MM: Charlie brought good methods to it and he also left it to the players to take control as well which has gone out of the game to an extent now, Management are very much dictating what goes on. We didn't feel under pressure to perform, we were encouraged to perform to our own abilities, and that probably let us play as if we were youngsters in the park again. Most of us were young in fairness, too.

Q: Fermanagh got a walk-over in the first round of the Qualifiers from Tipperary, and then in the next round had a great win over Meath. Colm Bradley got a brilliant point to bring the game to extra-time and it was a deserved win in the end?

MM: I would say that Meath game was probably the pick of our games all year. It was in Brewster Park and it was a ding-dong battle, in fairness. We controlled most of the game but they got a couple of goals. Bradley got the equaliser to bring it to extra-time and we won by just a point in the end.

Cork was the next game and the element of getting to Croke Park was a big thing there. We just knew in ourselves that we could beat Cork, they weren't in good form that year.

Q: That was a seriously impressive win. Fermanagh ran the legs off Cork that day.

MM: The space suited us with the speed of the two boys (Mark Little and Eamon Maguire) and the speed of our whole forward line. We had legs, and Croke Park benefited us.

The next game against Donegal was a more cagey affair and was probably one of my better performances. I got the equalising point in the dying minutes that took us to extra-time. We rode our luck, we could have been out of the championship on two occasions before we even got to the quarter-final against Armagh.

Q: You and Liam McBarron had a really good partnership together in midfield that year for Fermanagh?

MM: Yeah, Liam probably did the dirty work to let me play a bit of football, in fairness to him. That's probably the way midfield needs to go. You need one going forward and one going back and Liam did a lot of work to help me play my game. He always got into a lot of physical contact and broke his nose on a couple of occasions. Thankfully that didn't happen before his wedding (McBarron got married the same day that Fermanagh defeated Cork in Croke Park. He took a helicopter from Dublin to Waterford to get to the wedding on time).

Liam and me would combine well, and then Shane McDermott used to come from centre-back to midfield and Hugh Brady would come in. We had a couple of players to come in too. Tom Brewster used to come in and made a big impact on a number of occasions as well.

Q: Armagh were very hot favourites going into that All-Ireland quarter-final. They had won the Ulster Championship in some style and looked to be gearing themselves up for another All-Ireland title challenge. What was the mood in the Fermanagh dressing-room. Were you condident you could pull off the shock that you did?

MM: Me and my cousin actually went down to the Ulster Final, it was actually in Croke Park, and Armagh just blew Donegal out of the water. They were the team to win the All-Ireland at that stage, and if they had of beaten us that day I do think they would have won it. Which probably still annoys them.

Armagh had been around the block at that stage. They had been All-Ireland champions two years before, were in the previous year's All-Ireland Final as well, and were a very physically strong team. The pressure was all on them, though. When the draw was made, we were just thinking we can't get away from the Ulster teams because we'd had Donegal in the previous round.

We just said we'd go and give it a rattle because there was no pressure on us. We said we'd perform and see what happens, and we knew we could perform because we'd given Tyrone a good game in the first round of the Ulster Championship and were unfortunate not to win it. We hadn't believed in ourselves going into that game, but by the time we got to Armagh we did believe in ourselves.

At the same time, when the game started, we looked under pressure, they went four points up early on. Two moments stand out for me then looking back. Stephen Maguire scored a point and Shane McDermott ran through three Armagh man, including Kieran McGeeney, and they weren't small men! He just drove on and was lucky to get a free, but it was just a statement that said, 'I'm taking them on, I'm going for it here', and that just lifted the rest of us. It mightn't stand out much in supporters' minds, but it still stands out to me. It was a big moment in our year, never mind that game.

Q: When the two teams came out and warmed up that day Armagh looked huge compared to Fermanagh. Mark Little and Eamon Maguire especially looked like boys amongst men, but they were brilliant, weren't they? They really backed themselves to go at teams, not just in that match, but throughout that Championship campaign?

MM: Aye, there was no fear, that's for sure. The two boys aren't actually that small when you're up against them. I think Armagh had tighter tops that year than we did which might have made them look bigger! I've one of the Fermanagh jersies from that year upstairs and I don't know how we were wearing them, unless they've gotten bigger or I've gotten smaller!

Even before the game Armagh came out to look at the pitch and we were out as well. We were messing about kicking the ball about, and you were looking at them thinking there's a really serious look on these boys! We were there to enjoy ourselves and do the job, and thankfully we did.

Q: After Armagh's strong start you and Liam really began to dominate the midfield battle which was another key development in the match?

MM: Yeah, after the slow start we took control. Maybe they took their foot off the gas a wee bit, but we definitley started to break and win more ball. We were fairly strong in the middle anyway all year. Then the boys Mark (Little) and Eamon (Maguire) were very good coming in and winning the breaks and James Sherry was a big presence there too. It wasn't as if we were out of our depth against most midfields.

In the middle of the second-half there was a throw-up and I was out on my feet and Darragh McGrath was just on the pitch and thankfully he went in for throw-up and just bossed Paul McGrane off and that's no mean feat. I was glad to see fresh legs coming on especially at that moment when you're in the heat of Croke Park and you're chasing the game. It was one of those moments where you did feel I'm out on my feet here, I don't know if I can keep going.

It was a warm day and it was just one of those occasions when you walked off the pitch and knew you'd put everything into it.

Q: You mentioned Tom Brewster who was a real super-sub for Fermanagh that year. He got the equaliser and the winner against Armagh and had a huge impact.

MM: Aye, and Raymie Johnson passed both of them to him. Tom was a calming influence at the right time and almost done the same thing against Mayo in the drawn All-Ireland semi-final from a similar position to the one where he got the two points against Armagh. The right man in the right place with the left foot.

In fairness, I think everyone in the stands was supporting us in those closing minutes of the match bar the Armagh people (Mayo and Tyrone also contested an All-Ireland SFC quarter-final in Croke Park that day).

Even the time I got hit, Enda McNulty and myself collided, you can see all the Tyrone ones up on their feet! We had the support and it was just a great occasion.

It mightn't mean a lot to other counties like a Dublin or a Kerry who have been there and done that, but Fermanagh has never even won an Ulster title which is the real thing we want to do. But I suppose that year, that moment, that game, was a defining moment in Fermanagh's history. It probably still stands out as the best, but hopefully it will be bettered soon and the quicker the better. We have no medals to show for it, but we have great memories.

Q: The reaction from Fermanagh supporters after the final whistle was euphoric. It's not too often you see a pitch invasion after an All-Ireland Quarter-Final!

MM: Yeah, the other game had to be put back, the Tyrone-Mayo game was put back a few minutes. Fermanagh were entitled to have their moment on the pitch. The supporters deserved it because they've come through a lot. I spoke to a few of the main supporters and even some of our sponsors over the years who would have said they shed some tears when we beat Armagh that day. When you look back, for us playing, you wouldn't have passed any remarks because you're in the middle of it at the time, but when you look back now at the game your hairs would be nearly standing because you can feel that bit of emotion that Fermanagh supporters must have felt on the day.

Q: It must have been a very satisfied dressing-room afterwards?

MM: It was, yeah. I had no jersey because I'd given it to some youngster in the crowd, the whole atmosphere was just great. I remember Sid Mulrone (Fermanagh trainer) coming in. The year before we had been to an All-Ireland quarter-final with a mostly different team which was a big step for us that time. I remember Sid coming over to me and sitting beside me saying, "We're in new territory now Marty, what do we do?!"

We had never been in an All-Ireland quarter-final until the year before and now we were in an All-Ireland semi-final. It was just unfortunate that we didn't go on any further.

Q: I presume the drawn and replayed All-Ireland semi-finals against Mayo are a regret? Fermanagh probably should have won the first day and could have won the second day too?

MM: Yeah. I suppose Trevor Mortimer had a big influence on both days. The second match really hinged on one decision when Raymie Johnson was done for overcarrying, and I really don't think he did over-carry the ball. The next thing Mayo went down the field and got a point to put them ahead and then got the second-point in injury-time. It stung us badly because there was no chance to get back at them.

It was just a hard defeat to take. If we had been beat out the gate the first day then fair enough. But it was so hard to take because, look, we should have won the first day and the second day we could have won it as well. It's just hard to take.

Q: You must look back on that era of Fermanagh football fondly? Aside from 2004, you were a very competitive team for a number of years?

MM: We seemed to do well in even-numbered years. '04, '06, and '08 were good years and in '03 we were in an All-Ireland quarter-final and a National League semi-final. I suppose I can't complain. There were many Fermanagh players who went before me, better players, who never got a chance to play in Croke Park.

Those big moments mean a lot for small teams, to play in Croke Park in front of a full-house. To experience that was something I'll never forget. You can get emotional about it all. As somebody once said, you don't get emotional until you retire from playing. Those county days are long gone so I can get emotional about them now!

Look, they were good times for Fermanagh and we enjoyed them. We've nothing to show for them on the medal board, but we can't bring medals with us anyway when we go.

We'll always have the memories.