Galway advanced to the last twelve with a hard-earned 1-11 to 0-8 defeat of Derry at soaking Salthill.

Danny Cummins clinically dispatched the clinching goal eight minutes from time at the end of a devastating counter-attack to put the match beyond the reach of the visitors, who will feel that a number of key decisions went against them (most notably a possible penalty call mere second before that Cummins strike) as they slumped to a third championship defeat from three to Galway.

On each of those two previous occasions, the Tribesmen went on to win the All-Ireland!

A run of seven unanswered frees from Gary Sice (0-5) and Paul Conroy (0-2) between the tenth and 30th minutes gave the winners a 0-8 to 0-5 advantage at the break, the beaten Connacht semi-finalists having played with the wind behind them during the first half.

The Oak Leafers were playing into the teeth of an unseasonable storm in the first half, with howling wind and driving rain in their faces, but that didn't deter Eoin Bradley from opening the scoring with a terrific fifth-minute finish from an acute angle. With packed defences prevalent and inclement conditions assisting those rearguard actions, it was apparent from the off that we were in for a low-scoring and dour affair.

Benny Heron doubled the difference from a free and the visitors created a goal chance on eight minutes but Danny Heavron was happy to take his point and make it 0-3 to no score. Sice opened the Tribesmen's account from a 35-metre free in the tenth minute and repeated the trick six minutes later as a point separated the teams at the midway stage in the first half.

A Conroy free on 18 minutes brought Kevin Walsh's men level and Derry were unfortunate when Heron's effort rebounded to safety off an upright. Sice's converted free from the hands edged the westerners ahead for the first time 13 minutes from the break, 0-4 to 0-3, and the Corofin sharpshooter then lashed over another free from a central position to extend the gap.

Sice won and converted a 21-metre free to make it six without reply for the hosts with eight minute left in the first half. The visiting camp was infuriated when they had centre back Brendan Rogers harshly black-carded a minute later and their sense of injustice was exacerbated when Conroy stretched the gap from a contentious free: 0-7 to 0-3.

Having gone 25 minutes without a score, Brian McIver's charges got back on track with a Heavron score and Heron hammered over a brilliant 46-metre free from off the deck in stoppage time. There was still time for Man of the Match Gareth Bradshaw to raid forward and fire over a trademark point - Galway's first score from open play leaving three in it at the interval.

The luckless northerners lost their talismanic captain Mark Lynch to injury before the restart. The No.11 appeared to be struggling for most of the opening period and didn't reappear for the second half.

Sweeper Heavron came upfield unchallenged to thump over his third score of the match - a monster point in the 42nd minute - and Cailean O'Boyle added another instantly to reduce the gap to a single point. Bradley's attempted equaliser drifted inches wide; Galway's first point of the second half accrued from a Sice free 14 minutes in and Gary O'Donnell followed up quickly with only their second score from play: 0-10 to 0-7.

After O'Boyle drilled a 50-metre free to the left and wide, the margin remained at three with 15 minutes left to play. Fortunately for the hosts, O'Boyle's fisted effort went straight at Brian O'Donoghue and their three-point cushion remained intact as we moved towards the hour mark. Sice's seventh converted free provided the insurance score on 60 minutes.

Then came the defining moment in the match: the visitors felt they should have had a penalty as O'Boyle went down when he would have had a simple tap-in goal but nothing was given … the ball was moved at pace to the other end and Cummins planted the ball in the net via the crossbar in the 62nd minute to make it double scores: 1-11 to 0-7. Game over.

Despite a last-gasp Neil Forrester point, there was no way back for a disappointing Derry outfit, whose season has petered out while Galway progress to face the losers of either tomorrow's Ulster or Connacht finals for a place in the All-Ireland series.

Galway - B O'Donoghue; J Duane, F Hanley, C Sweeney; L Silke, G O'Donnell (0-1), G Bradshaw (0-1); F O Curraoin, T Flynn; G Sice (0-7f), P Conroy (0-2f), M Lundy; P Og O Griofa, D Comer, D Cummins (1-0). Subs: P Sweeney for P Og O Griofa, S Walsh for P Conroy, S Denvir for M Lundy, A Varley for D Comer, M Martin for D Cummins.

Derry - T Mallon; O Duffy, C McKaigue, D McBride; L McGoldrick, B Rogers; S L McGoldrick; N Holly, F Doherty; B Heron (0-2f), M Lynch, E Lynn; D Heavron (0-3), E Bradley (0-1), C O'Boyle (0-1). Subs: K McKaigue for B Rogers (BC), E McGuckin for M Lynch, M McIver for L McGoldrick, P Bradley for N Holly, N Forrester (0-1) for E Lynn.

Referee - C Lane.

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