Galway defeated All-Ireland champions Kerry on Sunday afternoon to set up a league final against neighbours Mayo on Sunday April 2 in GAA HQ.
A fortuitous Paul Conroy goal was the difference in scores on the day, but Galway were easily the better team over all.
It was a well controlled professional performance from a Galway side that has continuously improved from the drawn game against Mayo in the opening round right through to the 1-13 to 0-14 win over Kerry in round seven.
In keeping possession for the final two minutes of injury time, Galway managed to comfortably see out a game, something they have struggled to do for the previous two years.
Seán O’Shea scored a free in the 72nd minute, and once Galway won their own kick-out, they never gave up possession for the final two minutes of injury time.
Shane Walsh continued his return to full fitness with five points on the day, but just as important was the introduction of Damien Comer who came off the bench early in the second half for his first bit of action since his injury early in Galway's only league loss against Roscommon in February.
Bernard Power, in his first league outing since May 2021, had a brilliant performance with some crucial saves. He showed last Sunday that Galway have two very good goalkeepers, and if called upon again for the league final, or at any stage of the championship, he is still capable of inter-county standard performance.
Having requested the game be changed to Saturday to allow an extra day's recovery for their championship clash against Roscommon on April 9, Mayo are sure to still be hungry for silverware after losing last year's league final.
The only unbeaten team throughout the league, Mayo lost to Monaghan in their final game with a number of players absent. Cillian O’Connor and Enda Hession are expected to miss out on the clash with their neighbours, which will allow other players a chance to impress in Croke Park and fight to keep a starting place for championship.
With Mayo, Roscommon and Galway all on the same side of the draw for the Connacht championship, the two teams that fail to reach the final will have the comfort of knowing they will still be in the last 16 group stage in the race for Sam Maguire.
Padraic Joyce has said his goal was to reach and win the division one league - Galway not having won it since 1981. With a break of three weeks before their Connacht semi-final, many will believe Galway is in a better position than Mayo for this game with an eye on championship, but Kevin McStay’s side certainly will not roll over and let their fiercest of rivals get one over them.
With four divisional finals across the two days, ending with two teams from the west in the final of the most competitive division one league for years (and Roscommon third in the table ), football in Connacht is surely at its strongest level for years.
The game throws in at 4pm as Joyce aims to emulate his Uncle Billy in bringing a division one league title back to Galway.
