Late Rob Finnerty free consigns Armagh to home defeat against Galway

A Rob Finnerty free with the last kick of the game consigned Armagh to a 3-12 to 0-20 defeat to Galway following an enthralling game at the Box-It Athletic Grounds.

Both sides went at it full-blooded from start to finish, and having been level eight times perhaps a draw would have been a fair result. But Galway will care little heading west this evening, as they became the first team to defeat Armagh on their home patch in the League or Championship since 2023.

Galway were first off the mark with a Rob Finnerty score, but Armagh settled well and hit four on the spin at the other end. Ross McQuillan – the lone change to their starting team from the win over Monaghan – opened their account, which was followed by a Conor Turbitt point.

Fergal O’Brien added to the score-line, fisting over following a patient move before Armagh went direct, with Callum O’Neill fielding a kick-out, laying the ball off for Joe McElroy picked out Oisin Conaty, and with acres of space the Tir na nOg man grabbed his first of the night.

Galway hit back with an immediate reply through Fionn McDonagh and then raced into the lead when they finished off a quick move from back-to-front in style. Finnian O Laoi fed Finnerty, who played Kieran Molloy in on goal and his fierce shot beat Blaine Hughes and found its way into the bottom corner.

McQuillan was next on the scoresheet before he set up Oisin O’Neill to put Armagh back ahead. O Laoi levelled matters once more, but then Armagh hit a purple patch to pull four clear.

Aided by a black card to Ciaran Mulhearn for a late hit on Jarly Og Burns, Armagh saw Oisin O’Neill, Burns, Cian McConville and McQuillan take them into a 0-10 to 1-3 lead. Indeed, Armagh could have been further ahead when a McConville kick pass found Turbitt in the full forward line and he looked to have the beating of his marker Jack Glynn and goalkeeper Conor Gleeson. However, his goalbound effort was spectacularly denied by a diving Glynn block.

However, all Armagh’s good work in the first half was undone by a few minutes of madness just before the interval. When in possession of the ball and on the attack, they were called for a 4v3 breach. Finnerty’s resulting two-point free bizarrely dropped into the back of the Armagh net without being touched. Fionn McDonagh was closest, and although his hand didn’t make contact, it did enough to put Orchard goalkeeper Hughes off and the ball spilled through his legs.

That goal turned momentum in Galway’s favour, and they hit two further points through Finnerty (free) and Cillian McDaid to take a 2-5 to 0-10 half-time lead against the run of play.

Kieran McGeeney’s prediction of a ‘high-octane’ game was certainly true in the opening 35 minutes, but the second half got off to a more pedestrian start. It took 10 minutes for the first score to come, but it was worth the wait as Conaty levelled the game up with a score from just inside the two-point arc.

The next two scores were traded by Buns and Finnerty, with the latter’s coming after he was initially denied by Hughes in a one on one. The game had turned into a dogfight midway through the second half and it was the endeavour of Andrew Murnin that pushed the hosts into a two-point lead.

His lung-bursting run led to a free which McConville converted – Armagh’s first score not from play on the night. Then, from the resulting kick-out, he emerged with the ball and fed Oisin O’Neill, who swung over from the left wing in textbook style.

The lead was short-lived however, as Galway wrestled back control and rattled off four points from play in quick succession. Shay McGlinchey got the first of the run, and his score was followed by two points from the excellent Finnerty, and substitute Shane Walsh.

But the two sides were throwing haymakers back and forth, and Armagh responded with a fisted score from Burns. Galway then had a costly 4v3 breach, which led to Oisin O’Neill putting Armagh back into the driver’s seat with a two-point free. That was added to by fisted points from Tiernan Kelly and Jason Duffy to move Armagh three ahead inside the last 10 minutes.

The drama was far from done and Galway almost equalised with their third goal at the other end, but McDaid was denied by a spectacular save from Hughes.

The Tribesmen wouldn’t have to wait too much longer to find the net though, as after Shane McGrath cut the gap to two, Galway went ahead. Finnerty turned provider, playing the ball over the heads of the Armagh full back line for McDaid, who rattled the back of the Armagh net in a one on one.

At the other end, Armagh almost had the perfect reply when Conaty almost paid off a superb solo run with a goal himself, but his low shot flew wide of the far post.

The final moments came down to two frees from the respective number 14. Armagh’s Oisin O’Neill drew the game level, but there was enough time left on the clock for Galway, they won a late free, and Finnerty made no mistake, hitting the winner with the last kick of the game.

MATCH STATS

Armagh: Blaine Hughes; Joe McElroy, Gareth Murphy, Peter McGrane; Ross McQuillan (0-3), Tiernan Kelly (0-1), Jarly Og Burns (0-3); Callum O’Neill, Andrew Murnin; Fergal O’Brien (0-1), Conor Turbitt (0-1), Greg McCabe; Cian McConville (0-2, 1f), Oisin O’Neill (0-6, 1tpf, 1f), Oisin Conaty (0-2).

Subs: Tomas McCormack for McElroy (33), Jason Duffy (0-1) for Turbitt (60), Ethan Rafferty for O’Brien (65),

Galway: Conor Gleeson; Johnny McGrath, Sean Fitzgerald, Jack Glynn; Finnian O Laoi (0-1), Dylan McHugh, Kieran Molloy (1-0); Sean Kelly, Mattius Barrett; Liam Silke, Ciaran Mulhearn, Daniel O’Flaherty; Fionn McDonagh, Rob Finnerty (1-6 ,2f), Oisin McDonagh.

Subs: Cillian McDaid (0-1) for O’Flaherty (28), Matthew Tierney for Molloy (28), Shay McGlinchey (0-1) for Barrett (HT), Shane Walsh (0-1) for Mulhearn (47), Shane McGrath (0-1) for F McDonagh (60).

Referee: Barry Cassidy (Derry).