All-Ireland SFC Quarter-final: Déjà vu for both teams in yesterday's Bank of Ireland All-Ireland quarter-final at Croke Park. Galway were as lacklustre and almost uninterested as last year, whereas Donegal proceed to a replay, a little haunted by the feeling that they could have averted the need for a second day.

But it could have been worse. Just before Galway captain Kevin Walsh's ballistic dispatch from 45 metres tied up the match, Joe Bergin, converging on goal in the last minute, saw his fisted effort come back off the crossbar.

Walsh may be in the autumn of his career, but that was the second inspirational point of his afternoon and his marking of Paul McGonigle in the second half helped turn the centrefield battle back in Galway's favour.

Having spent the last 10 minutes under the swaying sword of Damocles, Galway may feel relieved enough at this outcome. But the team's overall performance has deepened reservations about their appetite, even if they didn't pay the ultimate price for an unconvincing display.

Pushed to the extreme of requiring an injury-time equaliser, the Connacht champions' failings were exposed by a smart and resilient Donegal team whose manager, Brian McEniff, hatched and implemented a characteristically shrewd game plan.

Donegal have cause for regret that they didn't twist the knife on two separate occasions when the opportunity presented itself. In the first quarter they established a five-point lead, 0-7 to 0-2, and had the chances to extend the margin.

It is questionable whether Galway would have survived much further pummelling on the scoreboard. The opening pattern suggested a team every bit as flat and unenthused as they had been when they were trimmed by Kerry in last year's quarter-final.

Not alone were the performances strangely subdued but the conditions weren't helping. First they were facing a strong breeze. Donegal selector PJ McGowan made the point that the wind created a swirling effect around the goal, which didn't necessarily benefit the attacking team. To the extent that both sides scored more against the breeze he has a point, but the benefit for kick-outs was noticeable and put Galway under pressure.

Furthermore, whatever the problem under the Cusack Stand, that side of the pitch had all the appearance of an ice rink with players slipping and sliding. Galway seemed to suffer more, and Paul Clancy added to the general frustration by misjudging the weight on a number of passes into his full-forward line.

In mitigation, the Connacht champions can point to a lay-off of more than four weeks and hope that this match has brought them on a good bit. But they would need to have a lot more in the tank than they showed yesterday if they are to be serious contenders for the All-Ireland they last won two years ago.

Donegal's defence had leaked quite a bit in the qualifier series but yesterday will count as an improvement, because, even if the average of 14 points was again conceded, Galway's attack is the best they've faced to date. Their covering and work rate were immense as they isolated and blocked their free-running opponents and disrupted space in scoring positions.

This meant that Galway's fastest runners, Matthew Clancy and Michael Donnellan, struggled to get into the game and were shuffled around the attack before being replaced in the second half. Given that Padhraic Joyce was also disappointing, the team's highly-rated attack was distinctly malfunctioning.

Centrefield also caused enormous problems. Although Stephen McDermott was unable to reproduce his scoring exploits of recent matches, he combined with John Gildea to make life very awkward for Galway. Auxiliary centrefielder Paul McGonigle was outstanding in the first half, catching, winning the breaks and driving forward, but was subdued after the break by Walsh.

In the opening quarter Galway's defence was in tatters. Unable to keep up with the constantly changing positions of their opponents, they were rifled for points by Brendan Devenney, Michael Hegarty and Brian Roper. The experienced Seán de Paor had to drop off the team with an injury and his replacement, Kevin Brady, struggled to keep up with the hyperkinetic Christy Toye.

But the most significant score of the match was Galway's and came in the 26th minute. Derek Savage had cut the deficit to four and in reply Adrian Sweeney had missed a kickable free when the energetic, short game that had been proving so effective in defence proved Donegal's undoing.

Michael Donnellan got a hand to a short pass from the back and Declan Meehan - whose sharp interventions in attack were the price paid by Donegal for playing McGonigle so deep - snapped it up and passed to Savage, who set up Michael Meehan for a chance on goal.

Many others would have just fisted the point, but the highly regarded teenager managed to flash a left-footed shot to the net from almost under the goalkeeper's nose.

This and subsequent events - Padhraic Joyce giving Galway the lead and a rash of panicky wides from Donegal, who having waited until the 23rd minute for their first lost no time thereafter - appeared to put the Connacht champions in control.

The third quarter did nothing to undermine that perception as Galway got a grip at centrefield and began to pull away. But just as Donegal were visibly wilting they were ushered back into contention by their opponents' complete loss of momentum.

A series of sloppy wides gave Donegal an opening. Even in their hesitant frame of mind and even with their incremental rate of scoring, they began to hunt down the lead. After his own succession of misses (five), Sweeney cut the gap to a point in the 64th minute and the occasion ignited.

Donegal sensed they could win and it dawned on Galway that they might lose. Yet it was the Ulster side that looked more likely to seize the situation. Driven from the back by wings Shane Carr and, in particular, the excellent Kevin Cassidy, they scored twice - McGonigle and replacement John Haran - to push Galway to the brink.

Just as Galway's desperate, pass-the-parcel attacks appeared too panicky to save the day, Walsh stepped up and saved his captaincy from obsolescence. So they'll fight another day - and will need to.

GALWAY: B Donoghue; K Fitzgerald, G Fahey, M Comer; D Meehan (0-1), R Fahey, K Brady; K Walsh (0-2), J Bergin; P Clancy (0-2), M Clancy, M Donnellan; D Savage (0-1), P Joyce (0-4 frees), M Meehan (1-1). Subs: J Fallon for M Clancy (53 mins), T Joyce for M Meehan (56 mins), N Joyce for Donnellan (68 mins).

DONEGAL: T Blake; M Crossan, R Sweeney, N McCready; S Carr, B Monaghan, K Cassidy (0-1); J Gildea, S McDermott; C Toye, M Hegarty (0-1), P McGonigle (0-2); B Roper (0-1), A Sweeney (capt. 0-3, 2f), B Devenney (0-5, 2f). Subs: J McGuinness for McDermott (h-t), D Diver for Crossan (43 mins), B Boyle for Hegarty (57 mins), J Haran (0-1) for McGuinness (63 mins), C McFadden for Roper (65 mins).

Referee: M Collins (Cork).