After three losses in the Connacht championship campaign, twice at the hands of Mayo and also to Leitrim, many people were unsure what to expect when Galway were drawn against Dublin.
The Dubliners had strolled through the Leinster championship, winning all five games by eight points or more, and after a fast start put even more pressure on this young Galway side, it was not looking particularly encouraging.
Yet, trailing 0-4 to 0-0 after 17 minutes, Alan Glynn’s side showed huge grit and determination to lead by a point at the break, despite playing against a strong wind and a missed penalty by Stephen Curley.
Those three previous defeats had clearly hurt these young Galway players, and after their much improved second performance against Mayo in the Connacht final, they produced a three-point victory against the much fancied Leinster champions, winning 0-10 to 0-7 in O'Connor Park.
Dublin levelled early in the second half, but a second yellow card for their wing forward Luke O’Boyle heaped further pressure on his side.
Galway’s skill and accuracy soon took over with some fine passing moves, setting up enough chances for the Western side to take control, while good fine game management was used to see it out. Galway moved four points clear and although Dublin reduced the deficit to three, they were not afforded the time, space or enough ball to create the goal chance that was needed despite eight minutes of added time.
The win earns Galway a place in the All-Ireland semi-final against a Derry side which defeated Munster champions Cork in a low scoring affair.
Glynn will be delighted with the response from his side which, after a great start to the Connacht championship, had lost three of their last four matches.
Despite scoring just 10 points Galway managed to have nine different scorers, with corner forward O’Connor getting two to his name. Amazingly across the four quarter-finals three of the provincial winners lost out to provincial runners up.
With Tyrone Cork and Dublin losing out, it is only the impressive Mayo side that remains from the provincial champions.
Galway will now face Derry on Saturday June 25 in the All-Ireland semi-final with a time and venue yet to be confirmed. Mayo will play Kerry in the other semi on the same day.
Galway: K Gilmore; V Gill, R Flaherty, T Farthing; M Mannion, C Travers, R Coen; J Lonergan, S McGlinchey; S Dunne, É Monaghan, O Morgan; F O'Connor, S Curley, C Costello. Subs: C Cox for O’Connor (48 ), O Kelly for Dunne (54 ), L Carr for Curley (58 ), J Summerville for McGlinchey (60+1 ), C Dolan for Lonergan (60+3 ).
Senior draw
Galway will face Armagh in the senior All-Ireland quarter-finals after Monday's draw after Kieran McGeeney’s side impressively won against Donegal at the weekend.
The game has been fixed for Sunday June 26 in Croke Park at 1.45pm as the curtainraiser in a double header that also has Kerry v Mayo on the bill.
The other two quarter-finals will be played on Saturday afternoon, also in Croke Park. These games will see Ulster champions Derry face off against Clare, who defeated Roscommon in their qualifier game, and Dublin will face Cork who beat Limerick last weekend.
