All-Ireland SFC semi-final: Galway 1-14 Donegal 0-15
The Saw Doctors serenaded the jubilant Galway throngs in a big attendance of 67,002 at the end of a riveting All-Ireland semi-final in which the county had outlasted Ulster champions Donegal in a match of fine margins.
It was a riotous ending to an occasion that had opened in sombre fashion with a brief video tribute to the late John O’Mahony, who guided the county to their two most recent All-Ireland titles. Galway players lined up in a V formation, apparently to memorialise him as “a leader in the vanguard of change”.
This was always going to be a fascinating contest. The teams came from distinct perspectives. Under returning maestro Jim McGuinness, Donegal had resurrected their fortunes and won the Ulster title.
Their high-energy football, with running threats from everywhere and a wide range of scoring options, came up against a settled Galway side with experience of reaching the All-Ireland two years ago but beset by injuries for much of the year, an affliction that to few people’s surprise cost them captain Seán Kelly before the throw-in.
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The Connacht champions had to go with the flow but their strong points are more conventional: a good collective defence that has given up just one goal all championship, big men around the middle and an out-and-out inside attack line of Rob Finnerty, Damien Comer and Shane Walsh, all unambiguously identifying as full forwards.
At times, they had to mobilise everyone in defence to cope with the swarming attacking movement of the opposition but, for the most part, Comer stayed inside waiting attentively for ball directed at him. He didn’t score again on Sunday but his battering-ram presence required constant supervision, which he received from Brendan McCole, and he had a hand in scores for others.
They are not a counter-attacking team in the same way as Donegal and were hesitant in getting turnover ball up the field, which had been the main vulnerability of the Ulster champions, as graphically illustrated that June bank holiday Saturday when Cork took their otherwise pristine record for three goals.
Galway looked more dangerous getting the ball in quickly but it’s not as straightforward as it sounds.
There had been a fear that Donegal’s pace and mobility would ultimately be too much for the Westerners and it looked that way for long spells. Seven times the Ulster side responded within a minute of conceding a score, whereas Galway were slower in the build-up.
Crucially, however, they stayed in touch during an ultra-competitive match. Eleven times, the sides were level and on only five occasions was there more than a point between them – the fifth at the end in the winning margin.
The contrasting approaches became evident from the start. Donegal got their scores more easily as the half wore on, their attackers finding space from which to shoot and finishing with impressive accuracy, missing just twice before half-time.
[ FT Galway 1-14 Donegal 0-15: All-Ireland semi-final as it happenedOpens in new window ]
Top marksmen were Michael Langan, Ciarán Thompson and Oisín Gallen with 0-3, 0-2 and 0-2, respectively. Gallen was being well marked by Liam Silke but on the half-hour he gave him the slip and flashed over a point to cut the margin to a point, 0-8 to 1-6.
The key score had come six minutes earlier when Paul Conroy shaped up for the sort of shot Galway had been crying out for, a long-range effort to beat the defensive press. As he kicked, there was a groan as the ball flew low towards the goal and straight at Shaun Patton.
Crucially, Matthew Tierney, doing a rotation at full forward, ran into the square and across the Donegal goalkeeper’s line of vision, and Conroy’s reviled effort ended up in the net and turned into the key score of the match.
There was a long way to go at that stage, however, and Donegal flexed their own muscles, outscoring their opponents by 0-4 to 0-1 with points from Patrick McBrearty, Thompson, Gallen and Langan.
With the teams level at the break, 1-7 to 0-10, there was a sense that Donegal, having survived the goal, might be able to put real heat on Galway as the pressure stepped up. Yet, as the match progressed, it remained as finely balanced as ever.
Ultimately, it was the more deliberate Galway that lasted out the match in better shape. They proved relentless. Corner-backs Johnny McGrath and Jack Glynn were endlessly willing to push up and help in the construction of attacks. So was the whole team, with the exceptional Dylan McHugh again buzzing around constructively, shooting 0-2 on his travels and defending with energy and precision.
Cillian McDaid got up for a point after a Comer aerial knock-down to nudge them ahead, and Galway did not trail thereafter. There was a nerve-shredding interval of 10 minutes without a score until the 59th minute when quick hands by Silke put Maher in for a point.
Langan equalised with a great 45-metre score to cap a fine display – 0-4 from play and a defensive high point when his deft hands ruined a Galway counter by dispossessing Cein D’Arcy.
Their superior physicality may well have had a draining effect on smaller opponents and Donegal found the Davin goal as tricky to figure out as Galway had – three dropped short in the first half with Donegal doing the same with four attempts in the second.
Galway had their own inaccuracies: McHugh was badly wide off his wrong foot and Comer with a couple but, when the match had to be won, the excellent Rob Finnerty, outperforming his illustrious full-forward partners, had a free after Thompson slipped and touched the ball on the ground in the 65th minute to restore the lead.
Silke finished a sustained spell of possession play in the 70th minute, which combined with jaded wides from Langan and Peadar Mogan, who was unable to activate the A-game that has brought him much acclaim this season, to seal the deal.
GALWAY: Connor Gleeson; Johnny McGrath, Liam Silke (0-2), Jack Glynn; Dylan McHugh (0-2), Seán Fitzgerald, Seán Mulkerrin; John Maher (0-1), Paul Conroy (1-1); Matthew Tierney, Cein Darcy, Cillian McDaid (0-1); Robert Finnerty (0-4, 0-2f), Damien Comer, Shane Walsh (0-3, 0-2f). Subs: Johnny Heaney for Darcy (57 mins); Daniel O’Flaherty for Walsh (63 mins); John Daly for Fitzgerald (66 mins); Kieran Molloy for Comer (72 mins); Tomo Culhane for McDaid (72 mins).
DONEGAL: Shaun Patton; Eoghan Bán Gallagher, Brendan McCole, Peadar Mogan; Ryan McHugh, Caolan McGonagle (0-1), Caolan McColgan; Jason McGee, Michael Langan (0-4); Shane O’Donnell (0-2), Ciarán Thompson (0-2, 0-1m), Ciarán Moore; Patrick McBrearty (0-3, 0-1f), Oisín Gallen (0-3), Aaron Doherty. Subs: Daire Ó Baoill for McColgan (30 mins); Jeaic MacCeallbhuí for Gallagher (47 mins); Hugh McFadden for McGee (59 mins); Niall O’Donnell for McBrearty (59 mins); Odhran Doherty for A Doherty (63 mins).
Referee: Brendan Cawley (Kildare)
