Diarmuid Marsden snatched the winning point in injury time to send Armagh supporters wild at Clones yesterday. It was Armagh's first championship win over Derry in 22 years.
The drama of a tough uncompromising battle did not end there. Derry could still have equalised: a referee's ball was awarded 13 metres out to the right of the Armagh posts. The ball broke loose to Paul McFlynn and as he launched his shot towards the posts a replay looked virtually certain - but the wing back's shot went narrowly wide.
That last-gasp miss reflected much of what had happened to Derry over the preceding 70 minutes. Armagh thrived on the holders' mistakes and this final error waved the challengers through to their first final since 1990.
Scenes of unconfined joy greeted the blowing of the final whistle by Longford referee John Bannon - Armagh supporters outnumbered Derry's two to one in the crowd of 24,753. But Derry people could justifiably argue that they had lost the match rather than Armagh having won it. Twelve wides against four for Armagh tells its own story.
It all started to go wrong for Derry in the second minute when Gary Coleman saw his searing penalty tippped over for a point by Armagh goalkeeper Brendan Tierney. Paul McGrane, the Armagh midfielder, had had little option but to drag Anthony Tohill to the ground when a goal seemed imminent.
The good-humoured Tierney, who wears the sort of goalkeeper's shirt favoured by soccer goalkeepers on the Continent, takes up the story of this defining moment.
"We talked about it (the possibility of Derry winning a penalty) before the match. We thought it was going to be Tohill, then it was Coleman. Brian McAlinden (Armagh's joint manager) said he would likely hit it to the right but told me "its up to you in the long run". So, I felt that if I go right I cannot be faulted. Sure, to form for a right footed player, he kicked right and I was glad to get to it. It was a simple enough save really."
And the jersey? "It's my get lucky jersey. It's so silly-looking that nobody else would wear it."
Derry were dependant on their experienced players, such as Tohill, Seamus and Henry Downey, Dermot Heaney, Joe Brolly and John McBride. All except Brolly, who was taken off after a poor day at the office, did well - but only up to a point. Their big sin was that they were unable to follow good outfield work up with the necessary scores.
Tohill had a brilliant second half, and some of his high fielding was out of the top drawer, but even he erred with a couple of placed balls.
The Armagh defence was tough as cast iron. All six worked hard for each other in denying Derry forwards the chance of a shot at the posts, and often there would be four defenders crowding a Derry forward in possession. Still, Derry looked comfortable enough when edging into a 0-5 to 0-3 lead by the 21st minute.
Then the Armagh threat erupted with a brilliantly-taken goal by Oisin McConville in the 23rd minute. The move was set up by Marsden and carried on by John Rafferty, leaving McConville with something of a pot shot at Damien McCusker's goal.
Often in that first half the only two Armagh players in the Derry half were McConville and Cathal O'Rourke, who came on as a sub for the unfortunate Alan O'Neill, who was stretchered off with a nasty neck injury. He was detained overnight in hospital.
Armagh, with far less good possession than enjoyed by Derry, led 1-4 to 0-6 at half-time. McCusker had brought off a fine save when a shot was fired in by Cathal O'Rourke.
McConville added to Armagh's lead moments after half-time with a point and Derry's task became more difficult when Brolly, from an easy angle, and Seamus Downey shot wide.
Tohill fittingly took Derry out of a real spot of bother when he lofted a great equalising point 28 minutes into the second half. He landed the score from 40yards out near the left touch line.
Brolly's replacement, Joe Cassidy, kicked the lead point with five minutes remaining. However O'Rourke, from a free, and Marsden at the death enabled Armagh to secure a memorable win.
