GALWAY CAPTAIN SHANE Walsh’s return to the starting team is one of five changes ahead of the Tribesmen’s Connacht final meeting against Mayo on Sunday [throw-in 1.30pm, live on RTÉ Two].
Pádraig Joyce hands out four championship debuts with full-back Sean Mulkerrin, midfielder Céin D’Arcy and attacking duo Paul Kelly and Dessie Conneely all starting at Salthill’s Pearse Stadium.
Conneely, who impressed in captaining Moycullen to their first Galway SFC title in October, is one of five personnel changes to the side that lost out to Dublin in their final Division 1 league outing.
Walsh is another, the Kilkerrin-Clonberne star coming off the bench that day after enduring injury struggles on club duty, while Johnny Duane, Cillian McDaid and Michael Daly all start against the Green and Red.
📍 TEAM NEWS📍@Galway_GAA Senior Football Team to face @MayoGAA in the @ConnachtGAA Senior Football Final announced⬇️ pic.twitter.com/oaPKxvOrVB
— Galway GAA (@Galway_GAA) November 13, 2020
Gary O’Donnell, James Foley, Jason Leonard, Rob Finnerty and Adrian Varley are the players to make way. As expected, the injured Damien Comer remains an absentee.
When these sides met in the league this year, James Horan’s Mayo were comprehensive winners. The last time they met in championship action was in the qualifiers last July, with Mayo again coming out on top at Limerick’s Gaelic Grounds.
The Green and Red beat Roscommon in their Connacht semi-final last week, while Galway’s clash with Sligo was called off due to a Covid-19 outbreak in the Yeats camp. Mayo named their team earlier today.
Galway
1. Bernard Power (Corofin)
2. Sean Kelly (Moycullen)
3. Sean Mulkerrin (Aran Islands)
4. Johnny Heaney (Killanin)
5. Liam Silke (Corofin)
6. Johnny Duane (St James’)
7. Cillian McDaid (Monivea Abbey)
8. Céin D’Arcy (Caherlistrane)
9. Tom Flynn (Athenry)
10. Paul Kelly (Moycullen)
11. Paul Conroy (St James’)
12. Michael Daly (Mountbellew Moylough)
13. Ian Burke (Corofin)
14. Shane Walsh (Kilkerrin Clonberne) – captain
15. Dessie Conneely (Moycullen).
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