Galway won five Connacht titles in the 1980s, but qualified for only one All-Ireland final. The team did come close to making the final at the expense of eventual All Ireland champions Offaly in 1982, leading for most of the 1982 All Ireland semi-final, before succumbing to a point from Brendan Lowry. The one final the team did qualify for in the decade was in 1983, where they came up against Dublin, in a match now infamous for foul play and thuggery. After an undisciplined beginning to the game, Barney Rock scored a bizarre goal from 40 yards after a poor free-out from Galway goalkeeper Padraig Coyne. The Galway players protested, claiming the goal should not have stood, due to Dublin manager Kevin Heffernan interfering with play as he attended to the injured Joe McNally, but the goal stood. Not long after, following a tussle in midfield, Dublin's Brian Mullins swung back his arm and connected with Brian Talty and the referee decided to send Mullins off. Shortly before half-time a number of players clashed beneath the Hogan Stand, leading referee John Gough to send off a player from each side, Dublin's Ray Hazley and Galway's Tomás Tierney. The match remained heated until half-time. Players from both sides clashed in the tunnel as they left the field for the break, and although rumours circulated for years about the incident, whatever happened in the tunnel, stayed in the tunnel. Whatever peace had the time apart may have brought completely disappeared five minutes after the restart, with the dismissal of Kieran Duff of Dublin after he kicked Galway’s Pat O’Neill while he was on the ground. This left Dublin with 12 men on the field to Galway's 14. Galway, however, could not make their two-man advantage count and ultimately lost 1-10 to 1-8. In the aftermath of the match, Galway players Tomás Tierney and Peter Lee were given one month bans, while four individuals from the Dublin team received bans including a 12-month ban to Duff, for the kick to O'Neill's head, and a 3-month ban to manager Heffernan.