Connacht champions Galway held firm in tense circumstances to edge out 14-man Kildare in Newbridge and seal back to back Super 8s wins.
Kevin Walsh's All-Ireland title hopefuls had to dig deep to shrug off a Kildare side fighting for their lives, particularly after Daniel Flynn saw red in the 46th minute.
There was just a point in it entering injury-time but Galway scores from Sean Kelly and captain Damien Comer sealed the three-point win.
It means Kildare's chances of making the last four are over while Galway remain firmly in the hunt for a first All-Ireland title since 2001.
Comer was one of 13 different scorers on the afternoon for the Tribesmen as Kildare sought to kill off Connacht opposition at St Conleth's Park for the second time in the Championship.
But they couldn't repeat the win they conjured over Mayo in the qualifiers and have now lost three times in this year's Championship.
Galway were rocked early on by the loss of former U-21 star Michael Daly to an apparent leg injury.
The wing-forward fired two points in the first eight minutes but pulled up in the process of scoring his second and appeared to tweak a muscle.
That scored left Galway 0-03 to 0-01 ahead though Kildare fought back to level terms at 0-03 apiece, setting in train a tit for tat scoring encounter.
It was thrilling stuff and the scores were tied on five occasions in a blood and thunder first-half that amounted to an exhibition of Gaelic football.
All of the best characteristics of the game; high fielding, long range point kicking, ultra intensity and quality kick passing were on show as the game swung from end to end.
Comer and Shane Walsh were marked men in the Galway attack though both still contributed 0-05 in the opening half, 0-03 from play.
Johnny Heaney lobbed over a beauty too and the Tribesmen closed out the first-half scoring with three in a row to lead 0-11 to 0-10.
But Kildare led on a number of occasions themselves and played their part in an epic opening half.
Daniel Flynn and Paul Cribbin kicked some stunning long range scores though six wides in the half cost them.
Galway opened up a three-point lead in the third quarter for the first time and were boosted by Kildare's loss of Flynn to the red card.
Damien Comer speaks to RTE after Galway win: "There's nothing done yet. We have to play Monaghan on our own patch" pic.twitter.com/CvW3ePaAxO
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) July 22, 2018
The former Aussie Rules man was picked out following an off the ball incident involving Galway full-back Sean Andy O Ceallaigh.
Galway remained in the ascendancy but a mixture of poor kicking and handling errors allowed Kildare to stay in touch with points from Paddy Brophy and Paul Cribbin.
Galway led 0-15 to 0-12 approaching the hour mark and moved four clear when sub Gary O'Donnell pointed but couldn't push on as anticipated.
Kildare scores from Paddy Brophy and Neil Flynn reduced the gap to the minimum and it remained that way in injury-time but Galway ultimately brought their quality and big game experience to bear on the contest.
Galway: Ruairi Lavelle; Declan Kyne, Sean Andy O Ceallaigh, Eoghan Kerin; Gareth Bradshaw (0-01), Johnny Heaney (0-01), Cathal Sweeney (0-01); Peter Cooke (0-01), Thomas Flynn (0-01); Sean Kelly (0-01), Shane Walsh (0-04, 0-03f), Michael Daly (0-02); Ian Burke (0-01), Damien Comer (0-03), Eamonn Brannigan (0-01).
Subs: Patrick Sweeney for Daly (10), Sean Armstrong (0-01) for P Sweeney (51), Gary O'Donnell (0-01) for Heaney (54), Adrian Varley for Brannigan, black card (59), Johnny Duane for O Ceallaigh (67), Fiontan O Cuarraoin for Flynn (70).
Kildare: Mark Donnellan; Peter Kelly, Mick O'Grady, David Hyland; Eoin Doyle, Kevin Flynn (0-01), Johnny Byrne; Kevin Feely, Tommy Moolick; Keith Cribbin, Paul Cribbin (0-03), Fergal Conway (0-02); Neil Flynn (0-05, 0-03f), Daniel Flynn (0-02), Paddy Brophy (0-02).
Subs: Niall Kelly for Moolick (50), Chris Healy (0-01) for K Cribbin (53), James Murray for P Kelly (59), David Slattery for P Cribbin (62), Eamonn Callaghan for Brophy, black card, (68), Fionn Dowling for Conway (75).
Referee: Sean Hurson (Tyrone).
