Éamonn Fitzmaurice hails Galway's game management and maturity

Éamonn Fitzmaurice was impressed by the manner in which Galway managed the game late on in their win over Kerry, which is a further indication of how the team have developed from last year.

The westerners' three-point win over the Kingdom at Pearse Stadium saw them progress to the Allianz League Division 1 final, where they'll face old rivals Mayo next weekend.

After reaching last year's All-Ireland final, Pádraic Joyce's side will no doubt have their sights set on going deep in the Sam Maguire race again.

Winning a first top-tier title since 1981 would indeed be another confidence boost ahead of a Connacht semi-final with either Mayo or Roscommon on 23 April, with a three-week gap an ideal window to prepare for that game.

Speaking on the RTÉ GAA Podcast, Eamonn Fitzmaurice said that Galway, in terms of their league campaign so far, have "ticked all the boxes, especially after getting to the All-Ireland final and developing so well last year".

In further commenting on the Connacht's side's progress, Fitzmaurice added: "The things that you looked at, like they needed to deepen their panel, well they've done that. They have the meanest defence in Division 1.

"They probably as the season goes on will need to score a bit more but that's not going to be a problem with the forwards they have."

Yet, it was how Galway saw out the victory over his fellow countymen that caught Fitzmaurice's eye the most.

"You think back to the first night against Mayo. They were a point up heading into injury-time, they had possession, the game was over, but they gave Ryan O'Donoghue the chance to get the equaliser.

"Yesterday in the way they managed out the end of the game - Peter Cooke, when he was fouled by Seanie O'Shea that led to their last score,