Fermanagh's bravehearts produced a stirring comeback to grab a 1-11 to 2-8 draw after trailing Armagh by eight points in a dramatic Ulster final at Clones. Armagh 2-8 Fermanagh 1-11 The pre-match favourites looked home and dry when Ronan Clarke netted shortly after the interval to give Armagh a seven-point lead, which Steven McDonnell then stretched to eight, but Fermanagh mounted a rousing revival and finally got level with a fine point from substitute Shaun Doherty in the 73rd minute. Fermanagh, who got the last four points, dominated the second half and could well have won but for some terrible free-taking and a flurry of near misses as the Orchard defence creaked uncharacteristically. Armagh were annihilated at midfield and their forwards were living on scraps. The character of Fermanagh's players was nothing short of incredible as they battled back to earn a deserved share of the spoils. A goal from an unexpected source - raiding corner back Finian Moriarity - helped Armagh into a four-point half-time lead, 1-5 to 0-4. The match had a scintillating start: Tommy McElroy (30 seconds) and Ronan Clarke exchanged points inside the opening minute before both teams came within inches of finding the net: Paul McGrane found himself in a one-on-one with Ronan Gallagher but fired his shot straight at the grateful Fermanagh custodian; at the other end, Mark Murphy's deft flick came back into play off the crossbar. Ryan Keenan's free edged the underdogs back in front and they still led by 0-2 to 0-1 after ten minutes. Traditional positions counted for absolutely nothing as both sides chased in packs, with over-crowded defences leaving little room for incisive attacking football. Steven McDonnell and Moriarity missed chances to draw the Orchard County level. Armagh's rock Francie Bellew made a purposeful surge forward in the 16th minute, creating the extra man with a strong overlap but Clarke chose to ignore him and missed badly with an erratic shot. McDonnell found the equaliser when he clipped over a beautiful point near the end of the first quarter, but McGrane's left-foot shot again found the arms of Gallagher. Keenan fired wide after Murphy had beaten Bellew to the ball and McDonnell also missed a relatively straightforward free from the deck as the sides remained locked at 0-2 apiece. Seeking a seventh provincial medal, McDonnell looked in the mood as he kicked his team ahead for the first time with a magnificent strike while under pressure from Shane Goan on 22 minutes. Kieran Toner doubled the lead a minute later, driving his shot straight and true after an incisive build-up. In the 28th minute, Armagh moved five points clear when they carved the Fermanagh defence open with brilliant support play and purposeful passing. The move was started by McGrane, when he made an excellent defensive catch on the edge of his own square. Aaron Kernan ferried the ball forward and a neat interchange of passing culminated in an unexpected major from the Wolfe Tones corner back - his first ever championship score. Kieran McElroy brought an end to Armagh's scoring run of 1-3 when he slotted over and this was followed quickly by a converted Mark Little free. Little obliged to leave just the goal separating the sides after Keenan had missed the target beforehand and the Ernesiders opted to change their place kicker. Armagh were awarded a dubious free when Tommy McElroy's shoulder on McGrane was deemed illegal and McDonnell kept his cool to register with a kick from the ground, making it double scores at the interval. The Lake County managed only two points from play in the first half while Armagh, despite patently losing the midfield battle, were attacking as a unit - in relentless orange droves - to run a misfiring Fermanagh side ragged. For the last half hour, we would see a total transformation. In the first minute of the second half, clear daylight appeared between the teams when Clarke found himself in the open with just the Fermanagh goalie to beat and the full forward made no mistake: 2-5 to 0-4. Clarke and McDonnell then linked up and this time it was the No.13 who split the posts and Peter McDonnell's men led by eight points. It was a harsh lesson for Malachy O'Rourke's side. Moments before the second Armagh major, Ryan McCloskey dropped a shot into Paul Hearty's arms and the Armagh custodian initiated the move that led to Clarke's goal, which trickled over the line after hitting Gallagher. Captain Martin McGrath buoyed floundering Fermanagh with an inspirational point from play and, moments later, the No.8 inadvertently placed Eamonn Maguire for a goal with his next effort. McGrath's shot dropped short but Maguire sneaked in behind Bellew to punch the dropping ball to the net and give Fermanagh a lifeline: 2-6 to 1-5. The mercurial McDonnell slotted over a classy point to re-extend the gap to five: thirteen points play eight. A couple of rugby tackles at either end provoked the referee into brandishing some yellow cards but the frees were wasted by McDonnell and Little. Bellew repelled two desperate Fermanagh attacks before full back Shane McDermott marked his 37th appearance with a point on the overlap. Fermanagh hearts sank momentarily when Keenan dropped a relatively simple free into Hearty's hands from 21 yards approaching the end of the fourth quarter. There were still four points in it, 2-7 to 1-6, but the underdogs were totally cleaning Armagh out in the middle of the field. The match remained very much in the melting pot and the quality of football -especially from Fermanagh - improved dramatically as the end encroached. Excellent long-range points from Ciaran McElroy and McGrath bookended a lovely left-footer from McDonnell (bringing his tally to 0-6) and there was just a score between the teams with 15 minutes left. Tom Brewster, Barry Owens and Oisin McConville were on the field now and, amid a frenetic finish, a scramble broke out close to the Armagh goal, resulting in an instinctive diving save from Hearty from Murphy's toe-poke. Brewster shot wide and Owens had the ball nicked off his toe by Andy Mallon as he tried to pull the trigger for a second Fermanagh goal. Thus, with an hour played it remained 2-8 to 1-8. A combination of Hearty and Bellew thwarted McGrath as Fermanagh had their second sniff of the Armagh goal inside two dramatic minutes. McGrath got under Maguire's dropping shot but was unable to steer it into the net. The goal gap prevailed as McConville missed a free five minutes from time. Two points in a minute from Little (free) and Murphy meant a grandstand finale as just a single point divided the teams with two minutes left, 2-8 to 1-10. In the last minute of normal time, Hearty denied Owens under a dropping ball and Armagh won a free-out to weather the storm. Two minutes were added as brave Fermanagh rallied in search of the equalising point that would complete their incredible fightback. McDonnell and Keenan had a wide at either end in added time and Little was denied a clear free in front of the posts before substitute Shaun Doherty hit the leveller a full three minutes into added time. The final whistle sounded with 74 minutes on the clock and both sides will do it all again at the same venue in seven days time after a truly absorbing encounter. Fermanagh - R Gallagher, S Goan, S McDermott (0-1), P Sherry, D Kelly, R McCluskey, T McElroy (0-1), M McGrath (0-2), M Murphy (0-1), C McElroy (0-2), J Sherry, R Keenan (0-1, 1f), E Maguire (1-0), S McCabe, M Little (0-2, 2f). Subs - B Owens for McCabe, S Lyons for Kelly, T Brewster for J Sherry, D O'Reilly for Goan, S Doherty (0-1) for McElroy. Armagh - P Hearty, A Mallon, F Bellew, F Moriarty (1-0), A Kernan, A O'Rourke, C McKeever, P McGrane, K Toner (0-1), C Vernon, B Mallon, M O'Rourke, S McDonnell (0-6, 1f), R Clarke (1-1), S Kernan. Subs - P McKeever for M O'Rourke, O McConville for S Kernan, M O'Rourke for Vernon, D McKenna for B Mallon. Ref - J White (Donegal) Tweet

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