Galway beat All-Ireland champions Armagh in Division One

Galway showed the first signs of a recovery with a 1-12 to 0-9 Division One win over All-Ireland champions Armagh in a repeat of last year's Sam Maguire decider at Pearse Stadium.

Cillian O Curraoin starred for Galway with 0-5, including a two-pointer, with the hosts scoring three two-pointers during a two-minute second-half spell under the new floodlights at Salthill.

Matthew Tierney's first-half penalty helped Galway lead 1-4 to 0-5 at the break while Armagh had Niall Grimley sent off on the account of a red card with 10 minutes to play.

Kieran McGeeney's side went 18 first-half minutes and 23 second half minutes without a score in the first top-flight game to feature Gaelic football's new playing rules.

Young footballer of the year Oisin Conaty lit up the early exchanges with three fine scores as Armagh led 0-4 to 0-1 after 12 minutes.

Armagh were happy to defend the new 40-metre arc knowing that it was near impossible for their opponents to land a score due to the resistance of the elements.

The first infringement of the new rules arrived from the next play as Galway failed to keep three players inside their attacking half as Rory Grugan tapped over the free as a punishment.

Galway landed the decisive blow of the opening half when Tierney slotted his penalty home after Aidan Forker's foul on O Curraoin.

Despite the new rules, there was plenty of monotonous back-and-forth possession football on display.

However, the two-point scores provided real entertainment for the Galway fans as Padraic Joyce's side pulled clear in the second half with O Curraoin, Shane Walsh and Paul Conroy all landing from outside the 40-metre arc.

It went from bad to worse for the All-Ireland champions when Grimley was shown a red card for an off-the-ball incident with Galway defender Daniel O'Flaherty.

Armagh face Ulster rivals Tyrone next week while Galway travel to Mayo.