The angle and distance were a little challenging but Langan was the right man to bring some order to it. He had, after all, landed four polished points by then.
It was on him because it had to be at that stage. He had been their only scorer in the previous 25 minutes, a booming 45-metre effort to bring parity, 1-12 to 0-15, on 61 minutes.
But as he wound up to kick this time, there was a sense of fatigue about his gait. And he it couldn’t have trailed further wide had he tried.
Donegal were out of ideas at that point and, in truth, out of legs. The defence that has conceded just one goal in nine championship games stayed resolute, putting Galway back in a second All-Ireland final in three years.
They progressed without their injured captain Seán Kelly on the field at any stage and with Shane Walsh, Damien Comer and Cillian McDaid off it for the last few minutes.
Walsh and Comer, recognised as their most impactful players in the recent past and with some good interventions this season too at different times, contributed just one point (from Walsh) from play between them.
But 2024 Galway has been very much about unsung heroes delivering at key moments; players like Dylan McHugh, now a frontrunner for Footballer of the Year with the consistency of his performances off the right wing, John Maher and Rob Finnerty – who has lived in the shadow of Comer and Walsh for much of his career.
Here he stepped out into the light to make a significant contribution, scoring two of his own points from play and memorably chasing a ‘lost cause’ ball that looked to be going out over the endline in the 41st minute to recycle it and present McDaid with an opportunity which he took.
Maybe it was the experience of two years ago that Galway were able to draw upon most down the home stretch. The Galway manager Pádraic Joyce certainly felt it made a difference.
Ultimately, they were more battle-hardened too, having played Armagh, Monaghan and Dublin in the time that it took for Donegal to take care of Clare and Louth over the last four weeks.
In such a compacted season you might think that an advantage. But as this game moved into its final passages, there was no spark from Donegal, none of the hard running and athletic power that had distinguished the earlier part of their season.
Jim McGuinness was at something of a loss to figure that one afterwards. Had the emotion of a return to an All-Ireland semi-final 10 years on, in the presence of a 67,002 attendance, taken something from them, he wondered?
The quality of this second semi-final, in keeping with the first the evening before, was of a high standard. They were level 10 times. The penultimate stage of the football championship quite often doesn’t fail.
The points scored by Donegal especially in the first half, from Langan and Oisín Gallen, were really eye-catching. The game flowed, interrupted by so few frees (5-4 to Donegal). Rarely if ever does a game of this stature deliver such a premium of frees.
Of that nine on our count, six were within scoring distance and five were converted. The one missed was undoubtedly crucial. Oisín Gallen pulled wide from close range in the 64th minute which would have put Donegal a point ahead.
Just before that McHugh was wide off his left at the other end after yet another telling incision. Clearly, pulses were tightening at that stage.
But Galway held their nerve and always looked more likely in those last 10 minutes. Finnerty converted a free after Ciarán Thompson touched the ball on the ground as he went to tidy up a fine piece of defensive work. His task was made easier by Donegal objections bringing the shot 10 metres closer. However brief the contact was, these are being watched with more vigilance now and Kerry’s Paul Murphy was similarly penalised the night before.
Galway pressed on. Paul Conroy struck and upright and Comer couldn’t make a connection from the rebound, but then Liam Silke, an oasis of calm throughout as he picked up Gallen, pushed forward for a two-point lead on the 70-minute mark.
Donegal had set themselves up well for a big second half. They had fallen behind to a goal on 24 minutes that had a streak of fortune about it.
Like that Langan kick much later on, there was really nothing else on when Conroy snatched a shot that dropped short in front of Donegal goalkeeper Shaun Patton. But in the last second Matthew Tierney made a darting run across Patton’s line of vision and it was enough to discommode him. Conroy’s shot flew past him, Tierney’s run had paid off.
Donegal’s response was telling. They were keeping Comer in check through Brendan McCole, while Eoghan Ban Gallagher had Walsh well detained and within eight minutes they were level, 1-6 to 0-9.
Langan added their last two points and Shane O’Donnell always looked like he could make an opening when he was on the ball. At 1-7 to 0-10 it felt like a slightly more advantageous position for Donegal. But for the next 30 minutes they eyed each other up. Then Donegal blinked.
For Galway, there must be credit for getting all bar one of their 22 kick-outs away safely. Most went long but even under the break they had the force and physical power to gather. The only goal they have conceded, against Armagh, had its source from a short kick-out turnover. So Connor Gleeson’s delivery numbers are important in the overall context.
Beneath so many of his kicks were either Tierney or Maher, whose industry has become an important component of Galway advancement since 2022.
His 59th-minute fisted point came courtesy of that Corofin duo, McHugh and Silke, showing quick hands to make the incision. For Galway’s sixth point on 25 minutes he was fouled after breaking off a kick-out take, for Finnerty to restore a three-point lead.
Unlike recent games Donegal just couldn’t get the same penetration through runners like Ryan McHugh and Peadar Mogan. Gallagher’s withdrawal through injury also hurt after he was fouled on 47 minutes. Donegal, though, are surely ahead of where McGuinness envisaged they would be last August when he took over. There’s much to build on but a more physical dynamic may be required.
Arguably, the two most powerful teams are now contesting an All-Ireland final.
Before the game the Galway starting team lined up in the shape of a ‘V’ as a tribute to the late John O’Mahony played out on the screens. Joyce spoke eloquently about their two-time All-Ireland winning manager afterwards.
The ‘V’ apparently stood for vanguard, an emblem of the leadership and innovation he showed. That leadership legacy manifested more for Galway in the game’s most crucial moments. As it has done all season.
Scorers – Galway: P Conroy 1-1; R Finnerty 0-4 (2fs); S Walsh 0-3 (2fs); D McHugh, L Silke 0-2 each; C McDaid, J Maher all 0-1 each.
Donegal: M Langan 0-4; O Gallen, P McBrearty (1f) 0-3 each; S O’Donnell, C Thompson (1m) 0-2 each; C McGonagle 0-1
Galway: C Gleeson; J McGrath, L Silke, J Glynn; D McHugh, S Fitzgerald, S Mulkerrin; P Conroy, J Maher; M Tierney, C D’Arcy, C McDaid; R Finnerty, D Comer, S Walsh. Subs: J Heaney for D’Arcy (57), D O’Flaherty for Walsh (63), J Daly for Fitzgerald (65), K Molloy for Glynn (72), T Culhane for McDaid (72).
Donegal: S Patton; E Ban Gallagher, B McCole, P Mogan; R McHugh, C McGonagle, C McColgan; J McGee, M Langan; S O’Donnell, C Thompson, C Moore; P McBrearty, O Gallen, A Doherty. Subs: D Ó Baoill for McColgan (30), J MacCeallbhuí for Gallagher inj (47), H McFadden for McGee (59), N O’Donnell for McBrearty (59), O Doherty for Doherty (63).
Referee: B Cawley (Kildare)
