IN the end it wasn’t to be for Derry.
After reaching the All-Ireland semi-final, Galway were just good and too clinical in front of the posts at Croke Park.
Even a Lachlan Murray consolation goal in injury was too late to make a dent in the deficit running out 1-6 to 2-8 losers.
Now Galway will wait to see who they will meet in the final when Dublin take on Croker in Sunday’s second semi-final.
Padraic Joyce’s Galway survived a thorough examination of their mettle and their patience, booking their place in a first decider for 21 years.
Damien Comer was the outstanding figure in a turgid, tactical encounter, registering two vital points when Galway were scrapping for scores in the first half and then drilling home a decisive second half goal to open up a six point gap.
Late on, with Derry labouring to create scores and goalkeeper Odhrán Lynch caught upfield, Shane Walsh manufactured a turnover, the ball was lamped in the direction of the screaming Comer who kept his cool to fire into the empty net from the edge of the D.
It all looked very unlikely in the opening quarter, when it appeared the Connacht champions were being sucked into a nightmarish contest.
The opening half was a 2011 throwback, the match played on the Derry’s terms as Galway struggled to find gaps in the Ulster champions’ heavily manned defence.
As Galway’s much trumpeted shooting efficiency deserted them, Rory Gallagher’s side made the early running, Brendan Rogers gliding forward to notch two points as they shot into a three point lead.
It wasn’t until the 21st minute that Galway had their first score, Comer collecting a pass, spinning away from the tackle and clip over a left-footed point.
The game was tainted by controversy on the half hour mark, when Hawkeye erroneously intervening to adjudge Shane Walsh’s crisply struck ’45 wide.
With Derry leading by a point at the break, the technological error was almost the sole topic of discussion in the bowels of the stadium at half-time. After some forceful lobbying from the Galway camp, the scoreboard was corrected before the second half commenced.
And the westerners commenced the second period as if buoyed by this, manufacturing three early frees, all converted by Walsh to open up a 0-07 to 0-04 lead, a significant advantage in so cagey a contest.
When Comer drilled home the game’s opening goal on 46 minutes, spinning past his marker to slip home at the near post, the result suddenly felt like an inevitability.
Derry, so energetic early on, failed to land a shot in the second half, caught in the spider’s web.
The Connacht champions, now with a substantial cushion, were content to play down the clock in a low-energy finale.
Galway shipped their characteristic late goal, Murray bustling through a few weak tackles on 73 minutes to force home a consolation but there was none of the quarter-final drama this time around.
As in 1998 and 2001, Galway overcome Derry to reach the All-Ireland final.
Having contested – and won – the first All-Ireland final of the qualifier era, they have now booked their place in the last.
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