Galway and Armagh to contest All Ireland Football final

Galway and Armagh will contest the 2024 All Ireland Football final after semi-final victories over Donegal and Kerry respectively. 

Armagh reached their first All Ireland final since 2003 with a thrilling 1-18 to 1-16 victory over Kerry after extra time on Saturday evening, while 2022 finalists Galway overcame Jim McGuinness’s Donegal by 1-14 to 0-15 on Sunday. 

It is the first time that Galway and Armagh will contest an All Ireland final and the second time that the sides will face in the championship this season after a round-robin game ended in a draw in mid-June. 

It will mark the fourth time that the sides have faced off against each other in the last three championship seasons, with Galway prevailing in a penalty shootout in the 2022 quarter-finals and Armagh emerging as 0-16 to 1-12 in the 2023 round-robin. 

It also marks the first All Ireland final that will not feature Kerry, Dublin, or Mayo since 2010. 

Armagh booked their place in the final with a stunning win over Kerry on Saturday evening. 

Kerry led for large parts of the enthralling semi-final and took a giant leap toward the final when Paul Murphy palmed home from close range after David Clifford’s effort for a point dropped short. 

Armagh’s responded through a fortuitous goal of their own when Rian O’Neill’s effort for a point dropped short and was spilled by Kerry goalkeeper Shane Ryan. Barry McCambridge was on hand to palm home the loose ball. 

Kerry held a two-point lead heading down the home strait, but two excellent points from Stefan “Soupy” Campbell drew Armagh level before a sensational long-range effort from Rian O’Neill gave the Orchard County the lead. 

Dylan Geaney leveled matters at the other end with a well-taken point to take the game to extra time. 

Armagh never looked back, scoring the only three scores of the first half of extra time. Kerry brought the lead back to one in the second period, but a breakaway score from Conor Turbitt sealed a famous win. 

Galway, meanwhile, prevailed over Donegal thanks in large part to a first-half goal from Paul Conroy. Again, the goal came in fortuitous circumstances after Conroy’s effort for a point dropped short and deceived Donegal goalkeeper Shaun Patton. 

The teams were level ten times in a closely-fought contest, but Galway came to the fore in the second half, outscoring Donegal by 0-03 to 0-01 in the final 20 minutes. 

The sides were level with ten minutes remaining before a Robbie Finnerty free and a Liam Silke point saw Galway set up a rematch with Armagh on July 28.