Meath edge past Galway in thriller to reach last four

Jordan Morris was outstanding for Meath, finishing with 1-6

Meath progressed to the last four of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship for the first time since 2009 with a 2-16 to 2-15 win over Galway in a slow-burn thriller at Croke Park on Sunday.

After a forgettable first 35 minutes that ended with Galway leading 0-7 to 0-6, this weekend's third quarter-final burst into life in the second half with all four goals scored in a breathless 12-minute spell.

Conor Gray and the brilliant Jordan Morris scored Meath's goals, and while Cillian McDaid and Liam Silke found the net for Galway, the beaten Leinster finalists finished strongly to join Donegal and Tyrone in the last four.

While Meath can look forward to another trip to Croke Park in a fortnight, defeat represents a bitter end to 2025 for last year's beaten All-Ireland finalists Galway.

Galway, pushed all the way by Down in last week's preliminary quarter-final, led by a point at the break despite trailing for much of the first half in the counties' first Croke Park meeting since the 2001 final.

Their midway lead would have been greater, too, had it not been for Meath keeper Billy Hogan, who did enough to put off Galway wing-back Dylan McHugh and force his shot wide.

In a madcap second half, it was Meath who struck first. After Morris (two) and Matthew Costello (three) combined for five points, substitute Gray poked home the game's first goal to put Robbie Brennan's side 1-11 to 0-9 ahead.

Morris quickly added to Meath's tally, but after Shane Walsh nailed a much-needed two-point free for Galway, the Tribesmen roared into a three-point lead with a couple of finely worked goals.

First, Matthew Tierney teed up McDaid to fire high into Hogan's net, before Maher drove at the Meath defence and set up Silke, who rolled a low shot into the corner to put Galway three up.

Robbie Brennan (left) has led Meath to their first semi-final in 16 years

While understandably shellshocked, Meath refused to give in, and after captain Eoghan Frayne sent over a much-needed score, Morris fisted home Meath's second goal after Galway coughed up possession in a dangerous position.

With Damien Comer introduced during the second half, Galway looked to their big guns for a rescue act.

Comer did indeed chip in with a fine score from play, but it was not enough to save the Connacht kingpins as Meath backed up their second green flag through Cathal Hickey and another two from Morris - who finished with 1-6 - to add Galway to their Dublin and Kerry scalps from earlier in the championship.

For Galway - whose last Sam Maguire triumph came in 2001 - it is another difficult period of soul-searching ahead, but this was unquestionably Meath's day as Brennan's side ensured Leinster representation in the semi-finals after Dublin's exit.