Galway 1-12; Dublin 1-12: Dublin showed great character to engineer a second-half fightback against the wind in Tuam and gain the point they needed for survival.
Team manager Tommy Lyons was just relieved to get the draw which keeps them in the top flight. "The heart of this Dublin team is never in question," he said. "We have progressed a lot in this league but we have a lot to learn. The players now understand what type of player we want and what type of game we want to play.
"We would have been very unlucky to go down. We only had one bad match, against Cork, but we have put in a lot of hard work over the past three months.
"Now we can concentrate on the next seven weeks and it take on a stage further."
His Galway counterpart, John O'Mahony chopped and changed before the game, yet all the players had All-Ireland medals, and while the team may be safely in mid-table, players had the chance to challenge for places in the championship team.
A further motivating factor was the fact that Galway had not beaten Dublin in a competitive match since the glory days of the 1960s.
Winning a place on the team was a more immediate aim. None looked more hungry to seize the opportunity than centre back John Divilly. He was out of the scene last year, but turned in a storming first half before breaking a bone in his hand and having to retire.
Dublin did not use the wind well in the opening half and the sides turned around level at 0-6 each. All six Dublin points came from play, wing forwards Enda Crennan and Senan Connell firing over two each with Ciarán Whelan, who started well but faded, chipping in one.
The Galway defence was outstanding and didn't concede a single free inside their 50-metre line in the opening half.
All six of their points came from their full-forward line, with Derek Savage, Padraig Joyce and John Donnellan scoring two each. But Galway shot nine wides in the opening half, Joyce having six.
Jason Sherlock had two good goal chances blocked by Gary Fahey and goalkeeper Alan Keane before being withdrawn at the break and it looked ominous for Dublin when Kieran Comer edged Galway in front for the first time two minutes after the restart.
It looked even more bleak after 49 minutes when Comer fisted a goal after a quick free by Joyce and then Joyce pointed superbly to put the All-Ireland champions four points up.
However, Galway were to score just one more point as Dublin, no doubt aware that scorelines elsewhere were not going their way, regrouped.
Ray Cosgrove ignited the comeback when he fisted home a high delivery from wing back Peadar Andrews 18 minutes from the end.
Cosgrove levelled the match with nine minutes left with a free, before Joyce landed one from 40 metres. Darren Magee and Cosgrove both hit the upright in the closing stages but it was left to substitute Paul Casey to rescue Dublin with a last-minute point.
"We were anxious to win it, we wanted to finish the league with a win. But that is now all behind us and it is Roscommon in seven weeks we now turn our full attention to. We still have a lot of catching up to do," said O'Mahony.
"We are taking a break for a week and will begin preparing for the championship in earnest on Tuesday week," said Lyons. "It is important players recharge for a time."
GALWAY: A Keane; C Fitzgerald, G Fahey, R Fahey; D Meehan, J Divilly, S de Paor; S Ó Domhnaill, J Fallon; M Clancy, K Comer (1-1), T Joyce; D Savage (0-3), P Joyce (0-6, two frees), J Donnellan (0-2, one free). Subs: T Meehan for Divilly (half-time).
DUBLIN: S Cluxton; D Henry, P Christie, C Goggins; P Andrew, D Magee, P Curran; D Homan, C Whelan (0-2); E Crennan (0-2), S Ryan, S Connell (0-3); A Brogan, J Sherlock, R Cosgrove (1-4, two points frees). Subs: J Magee for Curran (half-time); S Keogh for Sherlock (half-time); P Casey (0-1) for Homan (56 mins); J Gavin for Ryan (62 mins).
Referee: P McEnaney (Monaghan)
