Galway rub salt into Leitrim's wounds

Carrick-On-Shannon, swathed in sunshine, provided an appropriate backdrop as Galway strolled past an inept Leitrim challenge in yesterday's Bank of Ireland Connacht Senior Football Championship semi-final in front of a subdued and largely mute 12,000 audience.

The facility with which Galway produced a victory will undoubtedly make their opponents squirm on recollection, although yesterday's proceedings are unlikely to be preserved for posterity down Leitrim way, unless to frighten young children.

This was a truly gruesome 72 minutes for Peter McGinnity's charges replete with juvenile error, sloppy distribution, over elaboration and a toothless attack that sought the culde-sac rather than the open avenues of the Galway fullback line.

Often pulling 10 players back into their own half, Leitrim seemed petrified of the Galway forwards and with reason as Derek Savage, Padraig Joyce and Niall Finnegan contributed 1-12 of their county's total. This tactic did little though to stymie the Galway attack as Leitrim players chased the ball in packs: one pass often took two or three combatants out of the game.

Leitrim's reluctance to commit men forward backfired further in that, aside from the opening 10 minutes, the hard-working Adrian Cullen and Fintan McBrien cut lonely figures up front, so that when they did receive the occasional ball they were generally easily dispossessed. Only in the early opening exchanges when McBrien ran at first Gary Fahy and then Mannion did Galway look vulnerable.

Cameos are not the staple diet of victors, so it came as no surprise that Galway dominated almost every facet of play from the excellent Sean O'Domhnaill at midfield to a full-forward line that pulled and dragged a succession of Leitrim defenders over every blade of the pitch.

Galway prospered from bursts of scoring, rattling over four points in the final 10 minutes of the first half and a similar number of scores midway through the second. At times the visitors could be deemed guilty of over-embroidering approach work, but that was a result of the ease with which they were securing possession.

To their credit Leitrim defenders Seamus Quinn, Colin Regan and Shane McGettigan worked hard to stem the tide, but ultimately could not compensate for the all too apparent limitations. The discrepancy in physique between the sides further enhanced Galway's dominance: the winners won most of the 50/50 duels and were able to use their greater height and strength in key areas.

Joyce shaded his comrades in the full-forward line and O'Domhnaill, at midfield, was the game's most accomplished performer, kicking a couple of excellent points and orchestrating time and space for those around him. It was his astute pass that allowed Finnegan to claim the game's only goal, two minutes into injury time at the end of the match.

The corner forward raced onto the pass, side-stepped goalkeeper Martin McHugh and somehow squeezed the ball past Adrian Charles whose valiant effort in trying to rescue the situation counted for nought as the ball dropped between his legs and over the line.

Derek Savage was another to prosper, kicking three fine points, while Jarlath Fallon provided ammunition for his fellow forwards, particularly in the first half. Any time that Leitrim squeezed past a vigilant Galway midfield, captain Ray Silke, John Divilly and Sean Og de Paor quickly neutralised any threat. Explaining Leitrim's abject failure - outside of the fact that this young team appeared to freeze on the day -would be to pour salt on open wounds. Virtually everything that could go wrong did so during the 72 minutes, with few of the home side emerging with any credit. The pain of this defeat will be felt for a long time.

The value of such an outing for Galway is something that John O'Mahony must address. He will have already been aware of the potency of his full-forward line and the strength of his midfield, while the defence was barely extended. What may please him most is the confirmation of Galway's passage to a Connacht final without sustaining injuries or expending too much energy.