GAA: Galway defeat Mayo to win fourth Connacht title in-a-row

Michael Bolton

Galway have won their fourth straight Connacht title with a 1-17 to 1-15 win over Mayo in MacHale Park.

The All-Ireland finalists had to dig deep in the final moments to hold on, as Mayo could not overturn a strong first-half performance from Galway.

Mayo got off to a quick start, with Darren McHale scoring the opening goal of the game in the 11th minute to put them 1-2 to 0-2 up.

Galway responded strongly with two pointers from Paul Conroy, helping them to a 0-7 to 1-2 lead after 21 minutes.

Matthew Tierney extended their lead from the penalty spot, as they went into the interval with a 1-11 to 1-03 lead, as they took control of the game.

Mayo started the second half strong, with scores from Ryan O'Donoghue, Matthew Ruane, and Darren McHale helping Mayo reduce the gap to one point in the 49th minute.

O'Donoghue brought Mayo level three minutes later with a long-range free, with Mayo taking charge of the kick-out.

However, Galway regained control, with points from Conroy, Robert Finnerty, and Liam Ó Conghaile sealing victory for Galway.

In the Munster final, David Clifford scored 2-5 to help Kerry to a 4-20 to 0-21 win over Clare in Killarney.

Kerry's goals all came in the first half, with Cifford's first coming just after three minutes.

His second goal came in the sixth minute with further goals from Micheál Burns and Barry Dan O'Sullivan, as they took a 4-10 to 0-7 lead into the break.

Clare kept pushing with nine points coming from Emmet McMahon, but the damage was done in the first half, as attention turns to the All-Ireland group stage.