Padraic Joyce described his Galway players as exceptional in defeating Roscommon today and welcomed his belief they are no longer seen as a "one man band" in relying on a star player.
The outcome of the Connacht Football Championship semi-final in Salthill was never in doubt once the Tribesmen moved into an early lead, with the visitors struggling to land a blow in a 1-24 to 0-18 outcome.
Speaking to RTÉ Sport, Joyce did not hold back in his praise for the winning side.
He said: "I thought our lads were exceptional today. We controlled the game really, really well and took our score chances when they came up.
"We just played some brilliant football and moved the ball really, really well and were very economical up front, which is great to see. it was a great team performance, yeah.
"Roscommon are a good side, we're not stupid to know that. But I just thought our lads picked off scores at vital times and looked like we were going to score every time we came forward. They just made the right decision with the ball every time.
"It was good enough to win today, is it going to be good enough in two weeks time against Mayo? We don't know."
Galway will go into that final with Kevin McStay's side knowing victory would complete a four in-a-row success in Connacht.
While the initial goal is to come out on top in a fortnight, the real ambition is to go one better from last year’s All-Ireland final defeat.
Joyce has not shied away from the desire to end the wait to be the top side in the country.
Asked if he was satisfied to be showing such form at the time of the year, Joyce said: "We are. We know we were a long time away from the top table over the years so in the last couple years we probably got back up there, but we haven't drank the finest wine.
"We need to put ourselves in these big games and there is no bigger game than Castlebar in two weeks’ time.
"I think form will go out the window. It's going to be hell of a occasion, probably a sellout crowd down there on a May Bank Holiday weekend so we're looking forward to that and we'll get ready for it."
Pádraic Joyce describes his Galway side as "exceptional" in defeating Roscommon. #sundaygame pic.twitter.com/5eHJF2UX2C
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) April 20, 2025
Damien Comer came off the bench late on as he looks to get up to speed for the final and the All-Ireland series to come.
Joyce said Shane Walsh is likely to miss out on the game with Mayo, but expressed his happiness with the players filling in.
"I don't know how far Shane is away," the Galway boss revealed.
"He struggled with a bit of a muscle injury so didn't make it today and probably will struggle for two weeks’ time as well.
"Over the years we’d be reliant on those two lads but look it's a sign that the squad has developed and we're not reliant on them as much.
"We love to have them when they're fit but we haven't had them both them fit for a lot of games in my tenure.
"Today Rob [Finnerty] stepped up, Mattie Thompson, Mattie Tierney and we're no longer a one-man band which is good."
Davy Burke admitted Roscommon could not win the ball against a commanding midfield.
He explained: "I thought in the second half their physical big strong men around the middle really got on top of us.
"We probably just struggled in that department a little bit and not for the lack of want or effort. No matter who we threw at Céin D'Arcy, they came up with the goods.
"In fairness it’s a really, really strong Galway side, they’re excellent and have reached two of the last three All-Ireland finals.
"We're sore, we're sick, we’re disappointed. We’ll lick our wounds and come back.
"We put an awful lot into this. I thought the lads’ effort and work rate and application was class.
"We’ll take a few days off. We've had a fairly intense four or five weeks and we'll come back and then we'll go for a month-long preparation heading for the All-Ireland series."
