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Shane Walsh hails 'sweet' Connacht win ahead of bigger tests

Shane Walsh helped himself to 1-06 against the Rossies as the Tribes moved forward to the All-Ireland quarter-final
Shane Walsh helped himself to 1-06 against the Rossies as the Tribes moved forward to the All-Ireland quarter-final

Galway attacker Shane Walsh says consistency is the key aim for his side as they look to build on the weekend's Connacht final win over Roscommon.

Walsh was in fine form in that game, hitting 1-06 and playing a key role in the team’s fine victory.

Both himself and Damien Comer were central characters in Galway's first provincial success since 2018 and Walsh says that their involvement in the game was down to the fluid transition from defence to attack.

"I suppose you look to stop trying to overcomplicate things and maybe I was guilty of that too," he said at the launch of this year's All-Ireland SFC series.

"But our transition from back to front allowed us time and space as forwards and we crave time and space. When you have that anything can happen

"It was a big performance, and we won the game but there are still things to improve on in the next few weeks. The beauty of football is that you will come across different tacks and it is about who adapts the best – you or the opposition."

Walsh: "The 24 April game against Mayo saw us over the line and it looks like everything is starting to build nicely"

He mentions that word consistency, something that Galway have desperately been trying to find in the past number of years.

It’s not easy to attain that but Walsh says Galway are on the right track.

"Some lads came in this year and this is a relatively new group of players but the first thing we wanted was to put down a marker and get up out of Division 2.

"We kicked on this year and did that. The 24 April game against Mayo saw us over the line and it looks like everything is starting to build nicely. We just want to try and get that consistency and we have been striving for that for the last few years.

"But it was sweet to win on Sunday and a lot of lads were winning their first Connacht title. It was our first one to win since 2005 in front of our own supporters and that meant a lot too."

Clifford and his colleagues will be looking to end Kerry's eight-year All-Ireland wait

Kerry’s Paudie Clifford was also at the GAA’s launch and was asked if he envied the scenes at Salthill and Clones where there was an outpouring of emotion to greet the Galway and Derry provincial title wins.

Meanwhile, Kerry strolled to another Munster title success in a game that was effectively over at half time.

"I wouldn’t say envy," Clifford replied.

"Cork have had success at underage level in the last five or six years and have beaten Kerry in a lot of those games and maybe if we could get back to Kerry and Cork rivalry of the past maybe there will be scenes like that again.

"It was obviously great for Derry, they came from Division 4 and seem to be building something big.

"For ourselves we will look back on Munster now and see what we did well and what we did badly. There will be things we can improve on."

A fear in Kerry is that the four-week lay-off until their next game will hamper their All-Ireland hopes.

Last year they were cold coming into the All-Ireland semi-final against Tyrone and were turned over.

Clifford says it’s up to the camp to get themselves right for whatever lies ahead.

"We have to do a better job in preparing ourselves in training over the next few weeks and we have to get that competitive nature in training. Obviously, we don’t know for another two weeks who we are playing so all we can do is prepare the best we can."

Scully was introduced as a sub as the Dubs made it 12 provincial titles on the spin

Meanwhile, Dublin’s Niall Scully says that his side’s league defeat to Kildare in Newbridge wasn’t a motivating factor ahead of last weekend’s ruthless dismissal of the Lillies in the Leinster championship.

"Before the game we put a huge emphasis on trying to get goals and luckily that came through," he says.

"But the second half was a better reflection on Kildare and where they are at.

"All motivation for us comes internally and from how we can perform."

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