Dark day for Donegal as Armstrong return gives Galway shot in the arm
GALWAY recovered from their shock Connacht final loss to hammer Donegal in a surprisingly one-sided encounter. and now head to Croke Park to play Kerry in the All-Ireland quarter-final.
Donegal played most of the secondhalf with just 13 men after picking up a couple of black cards with all subs used, while Galway finished with 14 after full-back Declan Kyne got a second yellow card.
But the game was well over as a contest before Donegal lost their full complement as Kevin Walsh’s men bossed proceedings with a display that was miles away from what they produced against Roscommon.
They will now advance to Croke Park with confidence but this was a dismal night for Donegal football as they were completely outclassed.
Galway, having won the toss, struggled to make the breeze count in the opening quarter and trailed by 0-5 to 0-4 after 16 minutes.
Michael Murphy got three of those Donegal scores from frees, while Paddy McBrearty kicked two excellent points from play, much to the delight of the Donegal fans who outnumbered Galway by about five to one.
Walsh made three late changes, including drafting in goalkeeper Bernard Power, while the return of Sean Armstrong from injury was key.
Armstrong accounted for three of their opening four points, two of them frees, with Shane Walsh also finding the range from the right wing.
But the big breakthrough came after 16 minutes when Heaney got in for the first of his goals after Armstrong and the impressive Ian Burke had set him up and he fisted to the net.
Armstrong then pointed a free before the disorganised Donegal defence was again punished when goalkeeper Mark Anthony McGinley tripped Flynn to concede a penalty.
It got worse for Donegal when referee Anthony Nolan dished out a black card to the goalkeeper and the first involvement of his replacement, Peter Boyle, was to pick the ball out of the net after Liam Silke dispatched the penalty to the bottom right corner.
That made it 2-6 to 0-5 after 25 minutes and Conroy quickly added a point to turn the screw. Murphy eased the onslaught when he pointed a 45 into the breeze but Burke quickly cancelled that at the other end with a new point.
Michael Daly had a goal effort saved by Boyle but Damien Comer’s point made it 2-9 to 0-6 approaching the break.
Donegal’s poor defending was again punished in added-time when Conroy and Armstrong combined for Heaney to score his second goal. Sub Martin McElhinney gave Donegal some hope with a point before the interval but they went in trailing by 3-9 to 0-7 and were left with a mountain to climb.
Galway continued to boss proceedings when the game resumed with Heaney extending their lead and Donegal suffering a double blow when Mark McHugh and Murphy shot wides. Armstrong and captain Gary O’Donnell then went forward to shoot points to make it 3-12 to 0-7 after 40 minutes.
Donegal’s evening just kept getting worse when Michael Murphy was black-carded for a challenge on Walsh after 43 minutes and Donegal, having used all subs, were down to 14 for the remainder of the game.
They went down to 13 five minutes later when McElhinney was penalised for an off the ball incident. Michael Daly extended Galway’s lead with McBrearty, having rattled the crossbar with a goal chance, landed two points.
Galway went down to 14 men for the closing 21 minutes when full-back Declan Kyne picked up a second yellow card but by then a lot of the Donegal supporters in the crowd of 10,564 were heading for the exits as the rain started to get heavier on a bleak evening for Donegal football.
Donegal’s evening of woe was completed 11 minutes from time when McBrearty, having been fouled by Cathal Sweeney, had a penalty saved by Bernard Power and the Galway custodian then saved his rebound. Galway: B Power; E Kerin, D Kyne, C Sweeney (D Wynne 59, BC); G O’Donnell (D Walsh 72), G Bradshaw (C McDaid 72), L Silke; P Conroy, T Flynn; J Heaney, M Daly (D Cummins 63), S Armstrong; I Burke, D Comer (M Meehan 68), S Walsh (E Brannigan 60). ScorerS: J Heaney 2-2, S Armstrong 0-6 (3f), L Silke (1-0 pen), D Cummins 1-0, G O’Donnell, E Brannigan 0-2, P Conroy, I Burke, D Comer, S Walsh, M Daly 0-1. DoneGal: M McGinley (P Boyle 25, BC); C Ward, K Gillespie (K Lacey 36), N McGee; E Gallagher, R McHugh, P McGrath; J McGee, M Murphy; M McHugh, E McHugh (M O’Reilly 42), F McGlynn (M McElhinney 35); J Brennan (M Langan 35), H McFadden (C Thompson 42), P McBrearty. ScorerS: P McBrearty 0-6 (2f), M Murphy 0-4 (3f, 1 ’45), M O’Reilly 0-2, M Langan, M McElhinney 0-1. referee: A Nolan (Wicklow).