Armagh 1-11

Galway 0-13

THE sense of anti-climax is overwhelming. An All-Ireland football final that Galway looked set up to win – and were expected to do so by nearly all neutrals – instead left a county utterly deflated and in despair after a gut-wrenching loss.

The harsh reality is that a glorious opportunity to end a 23-year All-Ireland famine passed them by. It would be unfair to claim that Galway blew it, but Sunday’s failure at Croke Park on Sunday will haunt the players and management for months to come.

Galway weren’t at their best but still had sufficient chances to take Sam Maguire back west only for their scoring efficiency to drop sharply in the biggest game of all – a total of 13 points rarely wins an All-Ireland title even in this era of ultra cautious Gaelic football.

What makes Galway’s defeat harder to take is that this was their second All-Ireland Final appearance in three years. They were the more experienced team, leaving little scope for peddling excuses that the occasion got to them.

On their way to the decider, Galway had come through a series of close encounters. They kept finding a way to get over the line; didn’t panic and displayed an assurance which was the envy of opponents like Sligo, Mayo, Dublin and Donegal. They were the ones holding their nerve better, exuding a sense of calm and belief in the most trying of circumstances.

Unfortunately, those qualities deserted them on Sunday. A series of Hail Mary attempts on the Armagh posts down the home stretch typified their lack of composure. There was no lack of bravery or effort, but Galway simply weren’t clinical enough – only converting half of their 26 scoring chances tells its own story.

Instead, it was final rookies Armagh who are celebrating only the county’s second All-Ireland title. And for a team which had gone toe to toe with Galway in three previous championship clashes over the past two years, maybe they hadn’t been shown the deserved respect in the pre-final build up.

Kieran McGeeney’s men have graduated from the school of hard knocks. Being beaten in four penalty shoot-outs – two Ulster finals and two All-Ireland quarter-finals – would have finished most teams, but they kept coming back for more. There was no end to their spirit or defiance.

Significantly, Armagh was the only team Galway hadn’t beaten on their nine-match run to the All-Ireland final. Sure, nearly everyone thought that they were lucky to draw that round-robin clash in Markievicz Park in June, but psychologically that result probably emboldened them for Sunday.

In a game of tight margins, any team that could manage a goal would be in pole position. Armagh got that game-breaker from an unlikely source in full back Aaron McKay in a final where their starting forward line only contributed four points.

Pictured: Galway’s John Maher is about to be challenged by Ben Crealey of Armagh during Sunday’s All-Ireland Senior Football Final at Croke Park. Photos: John Sheridan/Sportsfile.