Ryan O'Donoghue of Mayo gets away from Johnny McGrath of Galway during the 2025 Allianz Football League Division 1 match between Mayo and Galway at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park in Castlebar, Mayo. Photo by Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile.
Sunday, May 4
Connacht SFC Final
Mayo v Galway, Hastings Insurance MacHale Park, 4pm (RTE)
Galway are gunning for a fourth Connacht SFC title in a row for the first time since the 1960s.
Mayo would love to stop them inking that piece of history, but they’ve struggled against their great rivals in recent years.
They have the benefit of playing at home on Sunday, but that hasn't provided much of an advantage in recent years. The last time they beat Galway in Hastings Insurance MacHale Park was when they beat the Tribesmen in the 2014 Connacht Final.
The most recent meeting between the two teams was a decisive win for Galway back in February when Padraig Joyce’s team triumphed by 0-26 to 0-16.
Galway kicked seven two-pointers that day so defending the ‘D’ more robustly this time around will surely be high on Mayo’s to do list.
They’ll be relieved that they won’t have to deal with the threat of Shane Walsh who finished with a personal tally of 0-9 that day.
He’s still out with a back injury and there’s no Damien Comer in the Galway squad either for this game.
He was man of the match in last year’s Connacht Final against Mayo, and his absence is another blow for the Tribesmen.
Still, they managed just fine without their two talismanic forwards in their semi-final win over Roscommon, which reflected very positively on how this Galway panel has evolved in the last couple of years.
The victory was built on the foundation of their marked dominance in the middle third of the field where the athleticism and class of players like Paul Conroy, John Maher, Matthew Tierney, Cillian McDaid, and Cein D’Arcy was very impressive.
If Mayo are to upset the odds on Sunday they’ll have to somehow compete with Galway in this area, but they’ve struggled at times this year to win primary possession in the middle third and you’d fancy Galway to dominate the kick-out battle.
Don’t be surprised if Aidan O’Shea features more around the middle third than in the full-forward line for Mayo to give them some added heft in that area, but Mayo will still need huge performances from the likes Matthew Ruane, Jordan Flynn, and Dylan Thornton.
If they can compete with Galway in the middle third, Ryan O'Donoghue is given more support in attack than he's been getting, and whoever is detailed to man-mark in the in-form Robert Finnerty does a good job then Mayo will certainly have a fighting chance.
But Galway are warm favourites for this match with good reason.
MAYO: Colm Reape; Jack Coyne, Donnacha McHugh, Enda Hession; Sam Callinan, David McBrien, Stephen Coen; Dylan Thornton, Matthew Ruane; Davitt Neary, Darren McHale, Jordan Flynn; Aidan O'Shea, Jack Carney, Ryan O'Donoghue. Subs: Adrian Phillips, Conal Dawson, Conor Reid, Diarmuid O'Connor, Fenton Kelly, Fergal Boland, Frank Irwin, Kevin Quinn, Paddy Durcan, Paul Towey, Rory Brickenden.
GALWAY: Conor Gleeson; Johnny McGrath, Seán Fitzgerald, Jack Glynn; Dylan McHugh, Sean Mulkerrin, Liam Silke; Paul Conroy, Sean Kelly, Cein Darcy, John Maher, Cillian McDaid; Matthew Tierney, Robert Finnerty, Matthew Thompson. Subs: Conor Flaherty, Daniel Ó Flaherty, Cian Hernon, Kieran Molloy, Cathal Sweeney, John Daly, Sam O'Neill, Liam Ó Conghaile, Tomo Culhane, Colm Costelloe, Peter Cooke.
