Connacht SFC semi-final

GALWAY 4-24 SLIGO 1-12

By DECLAN ROONEY at Pearse Stadium

Sean Kelly hit the key first goal late in the first-half as Galway sauntered into the Connacht football final for the fourth time in five years with victory over Sligo at Pearse Stadium.

Kevin Walsh’s side will meet Roscommon in the decider for the third year in a row as Damien Comer struck twice in the closing action, while Ian Burke also found the net for the 2016 winners.

From start to finish Galway bossed this encounter, although the 21-point winning margin was not a record win for the Tribesmen in this fixture, which was a 32-point reversal in 1990.

Playing into a light breeze in Salthill, Sligo would have eyed a bright start against their in-form Division 1 hosts and, despite Adrian Marren’s early point to cancel out Shane Walsh’s opener, this game was over by the 17th minute.

Seven points in a row from the rampant Tribesmen had them 0-8 to 0-1 ahead by that juncture, with Walsh and Damien Comer doing particular damage to the hopes of Cathal Corey’s side.

Lining up with a more attacking formation that usual with Comer employed by and large in the full-forward line, Galway looked unstoppable at times as Sligo’s marking and tracking of runners left a lot to be desired.

At the other end their poor shooting and shot selection also marred their first half and two in a row from Marren failed to stop the rot early on. Pat Hughes and Niall Murphy did trim the lead to five points after 21 minutes, but Galway upped their efforts for eight minutes and kicked five points without reply to lead by ten.

After a quiet opening half-hour Liam Gaughan tagged on a couple of good points for Sligo, but in first-half added-time a great Johnny Heaney effort was added to when Comer picked out Sean Kelly with a sweet ball over the top and his low finish gave Galway a 1-15 to 0-6 half-time lead.

There was a brief glimmer of hope for Sligo two minutes after the restart when Kyle Cawley punched to the net after some good build up play from Sean Carabine and Gerard O’Kelly Lynch on the left.

Two in a row from Ian Burke ended those slim hopes though, and 19 minutes from time Burke was on hand to finish to the net from close range when Walsh laid it on a plate for him.

With the win in the bag Galway refused to ease up and Comer hit the net twice in the space of two minutes later on, although David Wynne was sent off in added-time after he picked up a black card to add to his earlier yellow.

Scorers for Galway: Damien Comer 2-2; Seán Kelly & Ian Burke 1-2 each; Shane Walsh 0-5 (0-1f); Eamonn Brannigan & Barry McHugh (2f) 0-3 each; Johnny Heaney & Peter Cooke 0-2 each; Patrick Sweeney, Frankie Burke & Gary O’Donnell 0-1 each.

Scorers for Sligo: Kyle Cawley 1-2; Adrian Marren 0-4 (0-1f); Liam Gaughan 0-3 (2f); Niall Murphy 0-2, Pat Hughes 0-1.

**GALWAY: **Ruairí Lavelle; Declan Kyne, Seán Andy Ó Ceallaigh, David Wynne; Cathal Sweeney, Gareth Bradshaw, Seán Kelly; Thomas Flynn, Peter Cooke; Johnny Heaney, Shane Walsh, Eamonn Brannigan; Damien Comer, Ian Burke, Barry McHugh. Subs: Patrick Sweeney for McHugh (43), Michael Daly for Flynn (49), Gary O’Donnell for Cathal Sweeney (58), Frankie Burke for Ian Burke (60), Johnny Duane for Bradshaw (65), Danny Cummins for Walsh (66).

SLIGO: Aidan Devaney; Charlie Harrison, Ross Donovan, Kevin McDonnell; Gerard O’Kelly Lynch, Adrian McIntyre, Eoin McHugh; Patrick O’Connor, Niall Murphy; Neil Ewing, Liam Gaughan, Cathal Henry; Adrian Marren, Pat Hughes, Kyle Cawley. Subs: Seán Carribine for Henry (21), Cian Breheny for Hughes (28), Luke Nicholson for Harrison (half time), Keelan Cawley for O’Kelly Lynch (60), Finnian Cawley for McHugh (63, black card), Darragh Cummins for McIntyre (66). REF: Noel Mooney (Cavan).