Shane Walsh was the Galway hero as his ninth point of the game with the final kick saw his side edge Armagh by 2-22 to 0-27 in a thriller at Kingspan Breffni Park.
Heading into the game, Armagh knew they were straight through to the quarter-finals as winners of Group Four, but Galway’s continued interest in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship was far from secure.
Those prospects looked bleak at the end of the first half when they trailed by eight, having been outplayed with two penalties in the process.
But they roared back into it after the break with goals from John Maher and Rob Finnerty injecting life as they grabbed the win which ultimately saw them claim third place in the group, which means they hit the road next week for a preliminary quarter-final.
Although Armagh came into this repeat of last year’s All-Ireland final with the pressure off, they were full of intent early with Ethan Rafferty slinging over the first of his team’s four two-pointers in the opening period.
Rian O’Neill and Peter McGrane followed with points before Galway were offered a great chance to get into the game when awarded a ninth-minute penalty as Rob Finnerty went down under a Paddy Burns challenge, but Rafferty was equal to Matthew Tierney’s effort and John Maher screwed the rebound wide.
Shane Walsh did get them on their way with a pair of scores, but Armagh were flying with the next five points including a two-pointer from Niall Grimley.
Peter Cooke slung over a two-pointer for Galway, but Darragh McMullan hit back in kind with a scorching effort with the outside of his boot.
The gap was eight when Galway got a second penalty on 30 minutes with Walsh going down under a challenge from Burns and this time, Finnerty stepped up but thumped over.
Eight was the gap at the break as Rafferty got his second two of the half, this time a free, as Armagh went in with a 0-15 to 0-7 lead that in no way flattered them.
Galway had much work to do at the break and whatever was said most certainly worked as they were a different team, hitting early points from Peter Cooke and Cillian McDaid before their first goal on 39 minutes came as Dylan McHugh squared for Maher to palm home.
Their leaders stepped up with Walsh, Finnerty and substitute Paul Conroy all leading the charge with Armagh just about keeping their noses in front with Jason Duffy and Ross McQuillan pointing.
A two-point free from Walsh levelled it before his side moved two clear as Armagh suddenly needed to dig deep and did so with the next five points on the spin as Tiernan Kelly and Jarlath Og Burns got their names on the board.
After Cathal Sweeney hit back, Galway grabbed their second goal and they turned over the Armagh kick-out with Finnerty showing great composure to finish as we were set up for a frantic final 10 minutes.
It was nip-and-tuck down the stretch with Galway edging two ahead, only for Rafferty to kick his third two of the game to bring his tally to nine and although Walsh restored the Galway lead, Shane McPartlan became Armagh’s 14th scorer of the evening to level once more.
With one minute to go, possession was vital and Galway got it, draining the clock and then winning a free after the hooter which Walsh thumped over to seal victory and keep Galway in the race for Sam Maguire.
