Donegal and Galway have only ever met seven times previously in the All-Ireland SFC, and while it's three wins apiece and a draw, the winner has never gone on to lift Sam Maguire.
It was 1974 before the counties crossed paths for the first time in the heat of championship fare.
Donegal’s reward for just a second ever Ulster title – their maiden provincial success two years previous saw them fall short against eventual champions Offaly in front of 26,000 spectators at Croke Park – was a crack at a Galway side seeking a third final appearance in four years.
The Tribesmen showed their superior class on the day, but Donegal's Neily Gallagher finished with 0-08 to his name, mixing it from play as well as his usual accuracy from placed balls. It was certainly a better afternoon for the forward than the 1967 league semi-final against the same opposition.
With the Gweedore man standing over a penalty and the chance to down the favourites - Galway were bidding to contest a seventh (of eight) league and championship finals in the previous four years - the wind blew the ball off the spot. Famously the referee decided to award Galway a free out, a chance of a famous victory snatched from the grasp.
It was John Tobin who was Donegal’s chief tormentor in '74, plundering 2-06 of Galway’s 3-13, all the more impressive that he was being marked by Donal Monaghan, the corner-back who would go on to become Donegal’s second-ever All-Star after Brian McEniff a few months later.
In 1983 the sides met again at the penultimate stage of the championship – the last time they did so – and while it was an altogether closer affair, it was defeat again for the Tir Chonaill men, this time by the bare minimum.
Donegal’s belief they could make it third time lucky and reach an All-Ireland final was well founded. Ten of the side that landed the U21 All-Ireland title a year previous were infused, with Martin McHugh, who would go on that year to become Donegal’s third recipient of an All-Star, in scorching form.
Donegal led by a goal at the interval in a game that was shorn of quality and entertainment.
"An interesting first half without being spectacular in any way," was RTÉ commentator Michael O’Hehir’s diplomatic summary.
Indeed the biggest cheer came when news of Eamon Coghlan’s gold medal at the 1500m at the World Championships in Helsinki flashed on the Nally Stand scoreboard.
Donegal looked to be creeping their way to the showpiece, but Val Daly shattered their dreams. The half-forward gathered possession from a 50, and after an initial fumble, hooked his shot goalwards. His scuffed point attempt failed, but it somehow found its way back into the net.
Referee Weeshie Fogarty, the famed broadcaster and former Kerry footballer, blew for full-time to end the Donegal quest for ultimate glory.
It would be 20 years until the sides met again, when underdogs Donegal nearly pulled off a shock at the quarter-final stage, Kevin Walsh rescuing a below-par Galway with an injury-time equaliser.
A week later in Castlebar however and Brian McEniff steered the county to arguably their biggest win since the highwater mark of 1992.
Current managers Jim McGuinness – a sub in both games – and Pádraic Joyce – one point from play across both games – were relatively minor characters on both days.
Donegal failed to score in the final 21 minutes, yet still had three points to spare at the finish, Brendan Devenney and Adrian Sweeney the biggest thorns in the Galway side.
Six years later and Donegal upset the form guide again. Having lost to Antrim in Ulster and struggled to put Carlow and Clare away in the opening rounds of the qualifiers, most observers expected John Joe Doherty’s side to bow out with a place in the quarter-finals at stake.
However a two-man full-forward line of Colm McFadden (0-06) and Michael Murphy (0-05) accounted for the bulk of their scores, while Joyce (0-01) again found the Donegal defence a tough nut to crack as they lost out by the bare minimum.
By 2015 and Donegal’s good run of results in the fixture was extended, again a round 4 qualifier clash.
Level at the break, Donegal put behind the disappointment of relinquishing their Ulster title at the hands of Monaghan two weeks previous to up the gears in the second half.
Captain Michael Murphy was their inspirational leader as he powered his team in the last eight with a 10-point win at Croke Park.
The most recent meeting of the sides will be not fondly remembered by those of a Donegal persuasion, the curtain brought down on Rory Gallagher’s time in charge with a crushing 15-point thrashing at Markievicz Park.
Two Johnny Heaney goals and a Liam Silke penalty helped Galway to a 3-09 to 0-07 interval lead and Donegal could muster little in the way of defiance, finishing with 13 men following black cards to Michael Murphy and Martin McElhinney as Galway coasted into the quarter-finals.
Ryan McHugh, Jamie Brennan, Hugh McFadden, Michael Langan, Paddy McBrearty and Ciaran Thompson all remain from that qualifier debacle as they look for a far better performance this time around, while for Galway, Silke, Heaney, Paul Conroy, Damien Comer, Shane Walsh and Cillian McDaid (sub) have experience of that comprehensive qualifier victory.
Watch the All-Ireland Football Championship semi-finals, Armagh v Kerry (5.30pm on Saturday on RTÉ2) and Donegal v Galway (4pm on Sunday on RTÉ2). Both games available on RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to commentary on RTÉ Radio 1
