Armagh finally beat Galway in championship football at the fifth time of asking by beating the Tribesmen 0-16 to 1-12 in Sean Mac Diarmada Park in Carrick-on-Shannon this afternoon.

In what was a repeat of last summer’s quarterfinal which had to be decided by penalties, this game followed a similar trend of there not being much to separate the two sides.

Armagh’s Rory Grugan kicked the first point of the game in the third minute before Peter Cooke levelled for Galway a few minutes later.

Conor Turbitt regained the lead for the Orchard County with a fine point before Galway midfielder Cillian McDaid drove through the Armagh defence and popped one over the bar.

Shane Walsh finally got on the score sheet after a quarter of an hour to give the Tribesmen the lead, only for Andrew Murnin to bring Armagh level seconds later.

Aidan Forker’s point put the Orchard County 0-4 to 0-3 ahead in what had been up to then a tight affair that both defences were coping well with the opposition forwards.

The big talking points of the first half will be a five-minute period during which Armagh goalkeeper Ethan Rafferty saved a Shane Walsh penalty, the Ulster side retaking the lead through Turbitt moments after, then Galway full-back Sean Kelly bursting through from deep, spotting a gap in the defence and finishing low past the outstretched Rafferty.

Soupy Campbell pulled one back for Armagh before McDaid made it 1-05 to 0-6 in Galway’s favour before the break.

After the interval, Murnin scored first for Armagh, then Turbitt, before Soupy Campbell’s second of the match put the Orchard County into a one-point lead.

Shane Walsh stuck a massive free-kick over the bar from distance to bring the sides level on the 41st minute.

Both teams then swapped the lead with a thunderstorm threatening to erupt in the skies above them while on the ground the game remained tense with anticipation.

Walsh, Kelly, and Cooke sending good points over the bar for Galway, while Rory Grugan kept the Ulstermen in the game with several well-struck freekicks.

As the game looked destined to end in a draw, Grugan scored what would be the match-winning point from a freekick wide on the right side of the pitch in the fifth minute of injury time.