Galway are through to the 2009 Connacht final following a hard fought 1-13 to 0-12 win over Sligo at Markievicz Park this afternoon. An excellent display by Sean Armstrong was the difference between the sides as he finished with a personal tally of 1-3, but Sligo can take great heart from their performance. Both sides had a man dismissed in the second half as Neil Ewing and Gary O'Donnell were sent off for separate incidents. The vastly-experienced Declan Meehan was recalled to the Galway team. The 2001 Footballer of the Year was one of three changes from the team that eased past London in the first round, with Joe Bergin and Matthew Clancy also returning. Meehan replaced Gary Sice at left half back, while a fit-again Bergin came into the half forward line in place of the injured Damien Dunleavy. Clancy, meanwhile, was named at top of the left in place of Nicky Joyce, who was been axed from the panel for disciplinary reasons. Sligo manager Kevin Walsh opted for experience as Mark Brehony returned from a long injury lay-off to start at full forward, while former All-Star Eamonn O'Hara came back for another championship campaign at wing forward. Indeed, Brehony and O'Hara are the only changes from the side that defeated Antrim in the NFL Division 4 final in April, with Shane Stenson and Stephen Coen the players to lose out. Sligo needed to get off to a good start, but it was Galway and typically it was Padraig Joyce who shot over from a tight angle in the first minute. A marauding run by wing back Gareth Bradshaw almost brought about the first goal of the match, but Ross Donovan made an excellent interception to avoid the danger. Galway were soon two points to the good when Seanie Armstrong got off the mark as the Tribesmen looked to be dominating during these early stages. However, Eamon O'Hara, who started at full forward was fouled in the fifth minute and Adrian Marren converted from 13 metres. Joyce made it 0-3 to 0-1 with a trademark point off his left boot after ten minutes as Galway were begging to get to grips with the match. From the resultant kick out, Bradshaw drove forward once again and kicked an excellent point from 45 metres. Galway's lead was soon four points when a long clearance by captain Damien Burke was gathered by Armstrong and he turned his marker to fire over his second of the match. Matthew Clancy was forced off with a quad strain and he was replaced by JJ Greaney. Sligo brought O'Hara out the field to try and break Galway's dominance in the middle of the park, which initially worked as Sean Davey scored a fine point to make it 0-5 to 0-2 after 18 minutes. Nonetheless, the tribesmen were very dominant in defence as they were out on front for every ball. Armstrong and Meehan (free) stretched the lead even further as Sligo's distribution out the field was not up to scratch. Cormac Bane then hit his first of the match after midfielder Paul Conroy was fouled. At the other end Mark Brehony tapped over a 13 metre free to keep the Yeats County in touch. The same player got the next score of the match after good play by Jonathan Davey and David Kelly. Surprisingly, the experienced Sean Davey was taken off and replaced by Kenneth Sweeney, but it seemed to work as the gap was soon to cut to three points when Donovan kicked a huge part just after the half hour mark. The impressive Jonathan Davey surged down the wing and kicked another point as Sligo finally began to settle in the match, which was the last action of the half as Galway lead by 0-8 to 0-6. A thumping challenge in the first half ended Charlie Harrison's afternoon, while Niall Coleman was brought on for JJ Greaney during the interval. Sligo made an excellent start to the second half when Sweeney raced through and was one on one with goalkeeper Adrian Faherty, who spread himself well to block the shot at the expense of a 45 and Kelly duly pointed from there to leave it a one-point game. The sides were level for the first time after 44 minutes when Marren converted another free when Niall Coyne gave away a needless free. Sligo were now playing with a lot more confidence, but they suffered a real set back when centre back Neil Ewing was sent off after receiving his second yellow card following a foul on Armstrong. However, within two minutes it was 14 against 14 when Gary O'Donnell received a straight red card for a punch on Davey, who to be fair made the most of the challenge; a situation creeping into the game too much these days. Back to the action and it was Galway who took the lead once again when Joyce charged forward, laid the ball off to Meehan, who fired over the bar, which in fact was their first score for 23 minutes. Meehan added another shortly after when he fisted over the bar, despite pressure from Noel McGuire. The dangerous Kelly responded for Sligo and if they were going to win this match, they needed to get the ball into the corner forward more often, but they were finding that increasingly difficult to do. Substitute Stephen Coen made an immediate impact when introduced when he showed great skill and touch before making space for himself and firing over the equalising point to leave the score 0-10 each after 57 minutes. The vastly experienced Kieran Fitzgerald was introduced for the injured Hanley as the game entered the last nine minutes of normal time. Galway hit a couple of bad wides at a time when the needed to regain the momentum. However, the veer dependable Joyce found space and time to put them in front. The gap was soon back to one when Kelly pointed from a free with only three minutes remaining. Sligo were awarded the chance to level when Kelly, who caused endless problems was fouled and the same player drew the sides level from the free given. The game looked to be heading for a replay as the match headed into added time, three minutes of which was to be played. Nonetheless, there was always going to be one more chance for both sides and it was Bergin, who had hit two bad wides earlier fired over what looked like to be the winning point, but seconds later, the tribesmen made sure of victory when Joyce played in Armstrong, who calmly scored the only goal of the game which was in fact the last action of the match. Galway - A Faherty, D Burke, F Hanley, N Coyne, G Bradshaw (0-1), D Blake, D Meehan, P Conway, G O'Donnell, C Bane (0-1), P Joyce (0-3), J Bergin (0-1), S Armstrong (1-3), M Meehan (0-4, 2f), M Clancy. Subs - JJ Greaney for Clancy (15), N Coleman for Bane (35), G Sice for D Meehan (46), B Cullinane for Bane (55), K Fitzgerald for Hanley (60). Sligo - P Greene, C Harrison, N McGuire, R Donovan (0-1), M McNamara, N Ewing, J Davey (0-1), T Taylor, E Mullen, E O'Hara, A Costello, S Davey (0-1), D Kelly (0-4, 2f 1'45), M Breheny (0-2, 2f), A Marren (0-2, 2f). Subs - K Sweeney for S Davey (30), P McGovern for Harrison (35), S Coen (0-1) for Marren (54). Ref - Derek Fahy (Longford) Tweet

Most Read Stories