Little to choose from in Donegal - Galway rivalry

Donegal and Galway have only ever met seven times previously in the All-Ireland SFC, and while it's three wins apiece and a draw, the winner has never gone on to lift Sam Maguire.

It was 1974 before the counties crossed paths for the first time in the heat of championship fare.

Donegal’s reward for just a second ever Ulster title – their maiden provincial success two years previous saw them fall short against eventual champions Offaly in front of 26,000 spectators at Croke Park – was a crack at a Galway side seeking a third final appearance in four years.

The Tribesmen showed their superior class on the day, but Donegal's Neily Gallagher finished with 0-08 to his name, mixing it from play as well as his usual accuracy from placed balls. It was certainly a better afternoon for the forward than the 1967 league semi-final against the same opposition.

With the Gweedore man standing over a penalty and the chance to down the favourites - Galway were bidding to contest a seventh (of eight) league and championship finals in the previous four years - the wind blew the ball off the spot. Famously the referee decided to award Galway a free out, a chance of a famous victory snatched from the grasp.

It was John Tobin who was Donegal’s chief tormentor in 74, plundering 2-06 of Galway’s 3-13, all the more impressive that he was being marked by Donal Monaghan, the corner-back who would go on to become Donegal’s second-ever All-Star after Brian McEniff a few months later.

In 1983 the sides met again at the penultimate stage of the championship – the last time they did so – and while it was an altogether closer affair, it was defeat again for the Tir Chonaill men, this time by the bare minimum.

Donegal’s belief they could make it third time