Shane Walsh on song as Galway demolish Mayo in Castlebar

Galway continued their flying start to the National League as they cruised to their biggest victory over their neighbours in over forty years at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park in Castlebar on Sunday afternoon.

Mayo were no match for last year's All-Ireland finalists with Shane Walsh delivering a man of the match performance and shooting nine points, including four 'two pointers’ as he made the most of the 40m arc rule enhancement.

His colleague in the Galway attack, Cillian Ó’Curraoin, did likewise as he landed three ‘two point frees’ that allowed the Tribesmen to keep Mayo at a safe distance all the way to the finish line in front of 12,291 spectators.

All through a match that really got away from Mayo in the second half - they were outscored by 0-18 to 0-07 after the interval - Galway played the game on their terms and seemed much better suited to some of the new rule enhancements, especially when it came to long-range shooting.Kevin McStay’s team, in contrast, struggled to get to grips with both their opponents and some of the changes as they managed just one ‘two point’ score for the second game in a row.

The likes of Jack Coyne, Jordan Flynn, Aidan O’Shea and Tommy Conroy were again conspicuous by their absence.

Padraic Joyce was understandably pleased with Galway’s display afterwards, especially their long-range shooting as they racked up seven ‘two point’ efforts in total, two of which resulted from Mayo being penalised for not having three defenders in their own half.

Mayo’s second half collapse seemed highly unlikely when they went in at half-time ahead by 0-09 to 0-08, having twice recovered from four-point deficits.

Seán Morahan marked his first competitive league start with an early score, but a '45' from Conor