Donegal grab a hold of Galway late on as points shared in Letterkenny

A Paul Conroy free that looked like it was going over all day faded inches wide to mean Galway and Donegal ended all square in Letterkenny.

Donegal 1-9 Galway 1-9

In the sixth of five minutes added time the Galway midfielder was faced with a tricky free from the shadow of the Dr James McDaid stand, which had only been christened before throw-in, in an expression of gratitude to the former Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation.

His effort was true till the end but in the end both sides wouldn’t have been majorly satisfied, although overly perturbed either, with both perhaps thinking they should have won it, although content to end the day with something.

Donegal were five up in the first half and didn’t score for a whole 35 minutes as Galway got ahead by two late on and then by one late on through the returning Rob Finnerty’s punch, only for Jason McGee to level it up.

It took until the 21st minute for a lead of more than two for either side, with Donegal goalkeeper Shaun Patton piercing over a 50-metre free to put the home side 0-5 to 0-3 in front.

Beforehand, the slender advantage went over and then back, with Galway have edged in front three times - with Cathal Sweeney, a Matthew Tierney 45 and Peter Cooke’s classy point leading the way, Each time though, Paddy Carr’s Donegal got on terms, with Conor O’Donnell, Oisin Gallen and Jamie Brennan giving the home support good reason to cheer at 0-3 apiece.

Caolan McGonagle and then Patton were the next names entered into the scorecards and on 27 minutes Gallen - just about - tucked home a penalty. Conor Gleeson, the Galway goalkeeper, was inches away from saving the kick, getting a strong hand on it only for the ball to squirm over the line. 

The penalty had been awarded against John Daly, who had fetched a fluffed effort from O’Donnell on his goalline only to be penalised for a throw by referee David Coldrick. It meant for a 1-5 to 0-3 Donegal advantage, which, following how things had panned, was a considerable lead in the circumstances.

Fourty-three seconds is all it took for the Tribesmen to strike a goal in reply, with Tierney gobbling possession and running right at the heart of the Donegal defence and when Patton came to narrow the angle, the ball was slotted beneath him.

It was certainly the jolt in the arm the Connacht side needed, although it was Donegal who went in 1-6 to 1-3 in front, with Michael Langan hitting the point of the half with a classy long-range effort. Carr would’ve been concerned with seven wides and after the break, with Finnerty coming in following an ankle sustained in Castlebar. 

Finnerty helped Padraig Joyce’s team get on terms by the 52nd minutes, scoring either side of a Paul Conroy free and quality left-footed Tierney point. Donegal wing-back Caolan McColgan made a goal-saving tackle on Finnerty and when Conroy tucked over his second free of the half on 57, it meant the lead of 1-7 to 1-6, with Donegal stacking up the wides and twice hitting the upright.

In times like those, it was tough not to remember the impact of the retired Michael Murphy and currently injured Patrick McBrearty in recent years. At the other end, Tierney was on the money again to give Galway a two-point lead.

Peadar Mogan’s run inside five minutes from the end brought a bit of zip to Donegal, only for Gleeson to save and then Finnerty to block to follow-up. Donegal by now had gone a full half of football without a score - five second half wides and two short didn’t help - yet were still in the contest. Gallen’s point with three to play halved the deficit and then, like the London buses as the saying goes, O’Donnell levelled it up with 90 seconds left. Both teams would add on more but the parity was to remain.

Donegal scorers: Oisin Gallen 1-2, 1-0 pen; Conor O’Donnell 0-2; Jamie Brennan, Caolan McGonagle, Michael Langan, Jason McGee 0-1 each; Shaun Patton 0-1, 1f.
Galway scorers: Matthew Tierney 1-3, 45; Paul Conroy 0-2, 2f; Rob Finnerty 0-2; Cathal Sweeney and Peter Cooke 0-1 each.

Donegal: Shaun Patton; Mark Curran, Brendan McCole, Martin O’Reilly; Caolan McColgan, Stephen McMenamin, Eoghan Ban Gallagher; Caolan McGonagle, Jason McGee; Michael Langan, Daire Ó Baoill, Conor O’Donnell; Hugh McFadden, Oisin Gallen, Jamie Brennan. Subs: Peadar Mogan for O’Reilly (half-time), Rory O’Donnell for McFadden (60), John McGroddy for Ó Baoill (67)
Galway: Conor Gleeson; Jack Glynn, Sean Kelly, Eoghan Kelly; Dylan McHugh, John Daly, Cathal Sweeney; Paul Conroy, Cillian McDaid; Matthew Tierney, Peter Cooke, Johnny Heaney; Patrick Kelly, Gerard Davoren, Ian Burke. Subs: Rob Finnerty for Davoren (half-time), John Maher and Ryan Monaghan for Cooke and P Kelly (49), Dessie Conneely for McDaid (55). Referee: David Coldrick (Meath)