Walsh: Salthill triumph the 'sweetest of the lot'

Galway's Man of the Match Shane Walsh hailed his side's latest Connacht title success as the "sweetest one yet" after they overcame their old nemesis Roscommon in Pearse Stadium.

After a sluggish enough start, Padraic Joyce's side had rattled into a five-point lead at the break, courtesy of a brace of goals, the first of which was expertly converted by Walsh, the latter lashed into the top corner by Patrick Kelly after a shot rebounded off the post.

The hosts really accelerated clear in the third quarter, Walsh, Damien Comer and the eye-catching Rob Finnerty all filling their boots, pushing the lead out to nine at one stage.

Roscommon's rally came far too late to alter the contest, Diarmuid Murtagh blasting their second goal into the corner, reducing the margin to three points in the game's final act.

We'd done our homework done coming into it," Walsh told RTÉ Sport afterwards. "There was a bit of hurt after the league final, any final you get into, you want to win it. Everyone just dug in there today. That's a credit to the backroom team right to the last player in the squad.

"(All) set-ups are pretty similar these days. From our point of view, we just wanted to move the ball really quickly, focus on transition speeds, you see all the top teams doing it, Kerry and Dublin, that's what they're doing when they're trying to break a defence down.

'This is the sweetest one yet' Player of the match Shane Walsh reflects on Galway's Connacht SFC final victory Highlights tonight from 9.30