Aaron McKay’s 48th-minute goal was the key score, inspiring Armagh to their first All-Ireland title since 2002 and only their second ever.
Galway pushed hard to get back into the game, with Cein D’Arcy and Cillian McDaid reducing the gap to one in injury time, but ultimately, Armagh held on.
Dylan McHugh was agonisingly close to an equaliser as the clock ticked away, but his outside-of-the-boot effort hit the post. Armagh’s defence hung in resolutely and kept Galway at bay with one final attack to seal a famous win.
After the game, Rory Grugan said Armagh’s never-say-die attitude was key in bringing them to the peak of Gaelic football.
“It’s amazing,” he told The Sunday Game.
“It’s ten years of work for so many people. To see the elation, there at the end, boys coming off the bench to win it for us.
“We kept believing in what we were doing,” he added, referencing the narrow defeats that Armagh have suffered in recent years, including two Ulster final losses in a row after penalty shoot-outs.
“A never-say-die attitude, when it was easy to walk away.
“But we always knew we were there or thereabouts.
“We felt like we weren’t getting small breaks at times. Finally, luck is shining on us,” he added.
Rian O’Neill kicked a crucial score for Armagh in the second half, and afterwards, he paid tribute to his late uncle Pádraig O’Neill, who passed away during the week.
“Pádraig would be looking down today a happy man,” said O’Neill.
“I don’t know what to say,” he added.
The Crossmaglen Rangers star said it was one of the toughest games he’s ever played but wasn’t surprised that his team kept fighting and came out on top.
The teams had gone into the half-time break level on 0-6 apiece after a cagey opening half.
The game kicked into gear in the second half with D’Arcy, Paul Conroy and Oisín Conaty notching some brilliant scores, but McKay’s goal made the difference.
Stefan Campbell has made huge impacts for Armagh all year as a substitute and it was the same again here as his darting run and fisted pass across the goals set up McKay, who palmed past Gleeson in the Galway goals.
“We’ll never die,” said O’Neill. “We’ve shown that for years, we keep coming back, and today we did it.”
