Age: 23. Club: Killererin. Height: 6 ft. Weight: 13 st. Championship debut: 1998 v Mayo. Scored this season: 016 (in four matches). Honours: 1 All-Ireland SFC (1998), 2 Connacht SFC (1998, 2000), 2 Sigerson Cups (1997, 1998).
In his own words: "For the neutral spectator, it's probably a great final pairing . . . two footballing teams . . . and a lot of people are saying that it's going to be forward power against forward power. But that's crazy, because the defences are not going to give you the same space in Croke Park on All-Ireland final day.
"The attack has done well this year which is all the more remarkable because of the loss of Jarlath Fallon. No team in Galway can afford to be without a player of his calibre and it was unfortunate for him that he got a severe injury. I remember we all went training the Tuesday after he got injured and it was like someone died. As a mark of respect to Jarlath we just couldn't put the heads down and forget about it, we had to get up and be strong about it and everyone lifted their game. It has given Tommy (Joyce) an opportunity to play centre half forward and he's doing well at it. We've won a few games without Jarlath, and hopefully we can win the final for him.
"We probably had a soft Connacht final but there was nothing we could do about that, we can only beat the opposition on any given day. In hindsight, it probably benefited us because, when the going got tough in the Kildare game near the end, we were a little bit fresher."
Opposition View
Sligo's goalkeeper Peter Walsh on Galway's attack: "Some people appear to be questioning their attack because of the lack of goals they have scored in the championship, but I don't go along with that. As far as I'm concerned, they're simply the best forward unit in the country. A complete unit. The day against us they were on fire and, in Padraig Joyce, Derek Savage and Niall Finnegan, they have the best full-forward line around.
"It is amazing to think that Galway are producing such attacking play in the absence of someone like Ja Fallon, or even Kevin Walsh, who, although a centrefielder, adds weight to the attack. They don't do any extra training to anybody else so I'd put their talent down to the fact that they are born footballers.
"Against us there was a suggestion that their failure to score a goal was a weakness (they scored 22 points) but I felt that they could have upped it another gear if they had too. But they didn't need to. This is Galway's toughest test to date, though, and I expect them to shade it."
