JUST WHAT THE DOC ORDERED

THIS was a proper blockbuster that had everything bar a winner.

- BY MICHAEL MCMULLAN

Derry led by eight with 15 minutes to play. Home and hosed? Not just yet.

Control is no longer. Chaos is the new sheriff in town.

Enter Matthew Tierney with two goals. His first was a lifeline. The second put them a point up with seconds to play.

Derry had been here before. It was like their League defeat to Kerry all over again.

This was different. They worked the last kick-out short and a sweeping move ended with Conor Doherty kicking an equalizer with the last kick. For Galway, there was a tinge of the Dublin game and Tom Lahiff’s winner.

"I’m relieved to get out of there with a point," Galway boss Padraic Joyce said. “The way we played and obviously being six points down, with six minutes to go, we showed good character to stick at it.

“A bit of Hail Mary stuff but de-lighted to still be involved in it and take a point. It gives us something to play for in the last game.”

The result leaves the final round of games with spice in two weeks’ time.

Derry were a different animal from their defeat to Armagh. Their midfield structure and appetite met in the middle.

It gave them a platform. And there was an edge to their offering. Championship as we used to know it.