Donegal through to semi-finals

Donegal 0-14 Galway 0-11

Donegal's raw courage and self-belief carried them to a wonderful All-Ireland Football Championship quarter-final victory over Galway at Castlebar.

A thrilling replay win set up an all-Ulster semi-final against champions Armagh in three weeks time, and Brian McEniff's side believe they can cause another upset.

"I'm very proud of these players, the day belongs to them," said McEniff after watching his side outplay the Connacht champions.

Donegal had to defend desperately at times, particularly in the final quarter, when Galway staged a fierce fightback after falling seven points behind, but they did so heroically, keeping out three goal attempts.

And up front twin strikers Brendan Devenney and Adrian Sweeney grabbed the vital scores, a combined total of nine points.

Brendan Boyle, a late replacement for injured midfielder Stephen McDermott, made a promising start, and was involved in the build-up to scores from Brendan Devenney and Adrian Sweeney.

But once Michael Donnellan began to make his presence felt in the central area, Galway looked menacing.

Kevin Walsh, Michael Meehan and Derek Savage were all on target, and while Padraig Joyce failed to score in the opening half, his creative talents were important as his side kept in touch while playing into the wind.

A sweet Donnellan point reduced Donegal's lead to just a point midway through the half, but some enterprising work from John Gildea and Michael Hegarty saw the Ulster side pick up the tempo again, and scores from Devenney, Toye and Sweeney opened up a three points lead.

Galway had a golden opportunity to draw level when a poor kick-out from Tony Blake went straight to Walsh, who quickly released Joyce, but the full forward's shot smacked of the base of a post.

It was yet another missed opportunity by a Galway side which had kicked 10 wides to Donegal's two, but they did tag on another point, a fine individual effort from Donnellan, before Hegarty restored the three points cushion for a 0-9 to 0-6 interval lead.

The Ulster men roared into the second half, hitting four quick points through Toye, Sweeney, Boyle and Hegarty.

Now ahead by seven points, they began to believe that they could do it, but they were going to have to do it the hard way.

Joyce was denied a certain goal by the combined efforts of goalkeeper Tony Blake and defender Niall McCreadie, and as desperation set in for John O'Mahony's side, they missed two more goal opportunities.

Blake saved superbly from Meehan, and Shane Carr stopped Matthew Clancy's goal-bound effort on the line.

Donegal were now employing a blanket defensive system, with just Devenney and Sweeney up front, and as Galway chipped away at the lead with points from Joyce Meehan and Donnellan, a big finish was assured.

But they defended with discipline and assurance, holding on for a four points victory and a meeting with Ulster rivals Armagh.