Galway are aiming to win their second Nestor Cup in a row when they face Sligo on Sunday in Castlebar's McHale Park on Sunday (1.45pm ).
The men's senior final will be preceded by the senior ladies’ decider between Galway and Mayo at 11am.
Sligo, looking for their first title since they defeated Galway in the 2007 decider, are currently on the crest of a wave. Promoted to division three league football for 2024 after winning the division four final, they also won their second Connacht U20 title in a row in Tuam stadium.
Underage football in Sligo is showing clear signs of improvement, and under the stewardship of Tony McEntee, they have reached their first Connacht final since 2015. The addition of Pat Spillane to the Sligo playing set-up has considerably improved the Yeats County - his strong performances so far helping his side to victory over both London and New York. Spillane, along with Patrick O’Connor and Niall Murphy, make a formidable full forward line, and the trio scored 2-8 of their side's 2-16 in the semi-final win against New York.
Galway are hot favourites to win the Connacht senior title for the second year in a row, although having defeated a strong Roscommon side in Hyde Park in the Tribesmen’s only championship outing of the season so far.
Damien Comer and the returning Ian Burke were the stars for Galway on the day, with Comer scoring 1-4 from play in his first start since February, and Burke's significant link play making him one of the most elusive forwards in the game.
This is Galway’s eighth Connacht final in succession, but there will still be plenty of inexperienced/youthful players on show with many of the Galway squad under the age of 25. Although not a seasoned intercounty player, Jack Glynn has consistently shown his footballing capabilities, and with Johnny McGrath and Cian Hernon impressing so far in defence, Padraic Joyce’s youthful backline is starting to look settled after the loss of Liam Silke and Kieran Molloy last year, followed by the injury to Neil Mulcahy, who had slotted in seamlessly for the first two league games. Molloy, surprisingly, has been named in the Galway championship squad, which must be a huge boost for players and management.
Shane Walsh, who was well marshalled against Roscommon, is yet to fully rediscover his form from last year which would cause a huge problem for McEntee and his side. Walsh endured an extremely long season last year, reaching the All-Ireland final for both club and county. He then took an extended break to do some travelling, and has yet to fully reach the levels that were rewarded with a first All-Star. Joyce, however, will not be too worried about Walsh not yet at his best as there is a long season ahead with the new groups and seedings for the Sam Maguire.
Galway, after their Connacht final, must play at least six more games if they are to go one step further than last year. Either way, both Galway and Sligo will be in the hat as a seed one or seed two, but a win on Sunday should help Galway to avoid Dublin, Kerry and one of Armagh or Derry in their group.
