Galway's hopes of prising Kevin Walsh away from Sligo were ended last night when the big Killanin man agreed to continue as Yeats County football boss for another two years.

Walsh's name had been consistently linked with the Galway job since Joe Kernan's resignation earlier this month, but he has opted to stay with Sligo until the end of 2012 and will again be assisted by selectors Dessie Sloyan and Paul Taylor.

His decision means Galway must look elsewhere for a new manager. Walsh, who won two All-Ireland medals as a player with the Tribesmen in 1998 and 2001, had been the bookies' favourite to fill the vacancy left by Kernan.

The former All Star said he was honoured to be associated with the Galway post but insisted he was not leaving Sligo.

"It's a work in progress with Sligo at the moment. We have made a lot of progress in the past two years but we have more to do and my commitment is with this group of players," he said.

"It's a big honour to be associated with the job in Galway but all of us in Sligo have made a huge effort and we need to give that every chance of moving on to the next level."

Walsh said it would be an honour to manage his native county at some point in the future. He was anxious to clear up reports that there was some animosity with the county football board.

"I was nominated by some club for the Galway minor job a couple of years ago.

" I did not pursue it, Galway football board knew that and I did not go for an interview. But then last year it emerged in some media reports that I had been 'overlooked' for the job, that there was some hassle over it, but that couldn't be further from the truth." Tweet

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