Derrygonnelly man Oisin Smyth has quietly stepped into this year's Fermanagh side and was a key component for Kieran Donnelly in their league campaign playing the majority of games alongside Che and Lee Cullen in the full-back line. 

The 23 year old was first called into the squad last year without seeing any game time but recognises how important that year was for development.

“Honestly, I was probably focusing mostly on getting up to the pace and demands of the inter-county set-up that I wasn’t thinking about getting game time until I felt I’d reached that higher standard, but it definitely wasn’t easy,” he said.

“It was a big year for learning about the game and getting up to the standards across the board which was great to bring into the club season last year and thankfully it left me in a good place for the start of this county season.”

Smyth has played a key role in his club's success over the last number of years, being awarded man of the match in the SFC final over Erne Gaels last season.

Even with playing in an Ulster club championship final against Kilcoo, Smyth has realised the increase of quality at inter-county level and admitted he was driven on to play county football with the success of his club teammates in the green and white jersey.

“It’s definitely been a step up in terms of the pace of the games and the overall attacking setups we’ve faced,” he added.

“There are so many players that need watched within each team, but I’ve really enjoyed it. It’s been good to see where I’m at in terms of one-to-one marking in those fast, high-pressure games.

"So much of it is mental and trying to stay switched on at all times when there’s a lot going on around you, so that’s been a bit of an adjustment. I’ve definitely always had the goal of playing for Fermanagh, but I suppose initially it was really tough to make the Harps senior team. 

"Once I did it put me in a really good place to push on. I’ve been really fortunate to come from a club that for the last 10 years or so has always had a good few on the Fermanagh squad, so at any given training session you might have eight or nine lads that have played at county level between past and present Fermanagh players.

"That sets a really high standard which has been invaluable for players like myself that had the goal of playing for Fermanagh.”

Although suffering relegation, Smyth added that spirits remain high in camp following a string of positive performances throughout the league with all eyes fixed on Sunday as the Erne side look to keep out Armagh’s sharpshooters including the likes of Conor Turbitt, Andrew Murnin, Rory Grugan and Rian O’Neill.

“I suppose like a lot of the league games we proved to ourselves that we are more than able to compete with Armagh if we apply ourselves in the right way,” he said looking ahead to the weekend.

“We’ve spent most of our time looking at ourselves on both halves of the pitch and what we can do to improve from the league games but naturally we’ve seen a lot of their play by watching games over the course of the league.

"They have some brilliant players, and they were definitely worth their promotion, it will be a real test for us on Sunday.”