'It’s pretty raw, emotional for us' - Dublin left down and out, Galway claim stunning win

Paul Conroy consoles Jack McCaffrey after the game.

1. Dublin are left down and out

We will throw plaudits at the victors in a moment but it’s difficult not to first look at the defeated after such a drama-laden night at Croke Park. The All-Ireland champions have been toppled. For the first time since 2009, Dublin will not participate in the last four of the championship. A team that has lifted Sam Maguire on nine occasions sinec 2011 and dominated the sport to an extraordinary degree, found themselves beaten in a sensational manner.

At several stages this appeared a game they had a tight grip of. They were ahead by four after 13 minutes and were buzzing with intent. Twice in the first half they extended their advantage to five, and were still in front by four at the break. Even when Galway mounted a third quarter charge, it seemed Dublin had weathered that storm sufficiently with points from John Small and Con O’Callaghan to go ahead by three in the 55th minute.

But Dublin’s form and composure collapsed heading down the stretch. Fluency was missing in their attack, their play was scrambled at times with some of their execution off. Cormac Costello fired a free wide, Tom Lahiff’s crossfield kickpass was turned over, Sean Bugler was blocked with another drive close to goal, Con O’Callaghan dropped a late effort left of goal.

It was reiminiscent of the 2021 semi-final against Mayo, Dublin had been playing with authority but that sense of command slipped away at a critical stage. After scoring 14 goals in their first five championship games this year, this was their second shut out in succession after the draw with Mayo.

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“Disappointed, it wasn’t to be at the end,” reflected Dessie Farrell afterwards.

“It’s pretty raw, emotional for us in the dressingroom. We haven’t had the chance to review it yet but stating the obvious, that second half performance wasn’t good enough.”

2. Galway claim a stunning win

And now time to shower the victors with praise. That inability of Dublin’s forward line to raise a green flag mean Galway have now only conceded one goal in eight ties in this championship, Tiernan Kelly’s effort for Armagh in the group game in Sligo. It strikes to a core theme of this game, Galway’s terrific defensive effort was the foundation of their success. They restricted Dublin to five points after the break, a half that lasted 40 minutes. Johnny McGrath, Dylan McHugh and Sean Mulkerrin were all immense.

There was a greater range to Galway’s performance than just defensive prowess in choking the space available to Dublin’s forward line. John Maher did a brilliant job in blotting out the threat that Brian Fenton carried around the middle. In the opening period Shane Walsh provided the attacking oxygen that kept Galway alive, hitting a sublime point from play off either foot.

Then after the break Cillian McDaid got motoring, a display evoking memories of his point-scoring spree in the 2022 All-Ireland final. Damien Comer gradually became more impactful as a target man, while the Galway bench crtiically chipped in as Cein Darcy, Johnny Heaney, and Tomo Culhane all notched points in the final quarter.

The emotion and passion exhibited by the Galway camp afterwards showed the significance of this win, the county’s first over Dublin in championship in 90 years.

3. Football interest and intrigue looking forward

A groundbreaking result like this has major implications to digest and throws up all several questions. The absence of a dominant presence like Dublin sets the championship alight with intrigue. 2022 finalists Galway are back in the last four, they will be dreaming of ending their Sam Maguire wait that stretches back to 2001, after arguably the county’s greatest football day in Croke Park since that final.

But Armagh, who completed their quarter-final assignment earlier, are in the semi-finals now for the first time since 2005 and will attack that stage with confidence. What of today’s protagonists? Donegal and Kerry carry the mantle of favourites, Louth and Derry in the role of outsiders, but all in their camps will be lifted by the news that Dublin have exited the race.

And then there is the matter of what shape Dublin will emerge in next year. Dessie Farrell freely admitted that inter-county futures will now be considered by some of their most powerful figures. The Dublin boss didn’t reference any player by name, but there will be speculation over the intentions of generational talents like Stephen Cluxton (42), Michael Fitzsimons (35) and James McCarthy (34). This shock defeat may be a seismic moment for their squad.