Though Leitrim produced a battling display, Galway eased into the Connacht final with a 2-14 to 1-13 victory over Leitrim at Pearse Stadium. Padraig Joyce and Cormac Bann hit the winners' goals in either half, while Emlyn Mulligan was top man for Leitrim with a stunning return of 0-10 from frees. All in all, it was low quality encounter and Galway always seemed to have a bit in reserve when Leitrim got close to them. The winners offered brief glimpses of fluent football in the first quarter, but were still only two points ahead at the interval - 1-8 to 1-6 - as Leitrim had stormed back at them, buoyed considerably by Declan Maxwell's rasping goal on 25. A brace of Emlyn Mulligan frees had Leitrim 0-2 to 0-1 ahead on four minutes, after Galway drew first blood. The Tribesmen kept calm and retook the lead thanks to two consecutive Padraig Joyce points from play, the centre forward and captain leading by example in the first quarter. Melvin Gaels clubman Mulligan and Matthew Clancy traded wides but the opening stages were all about Joyce and the Galway No.11 slammed an unstoppable left-foot shot to the back of the Leitrim net on eleven minutes to make it 1-3 to 0-2 in favour of the red-hot pre-match favourites. Joyce brought his own tally to 1-3 in the 14th minute, after being set up by Micheal Meehan's run, and Donal Brennan fired over the visitors' first point in ten minutes. Before Brennan's fine point, Leitrim goalkeeper Enda Lyons made a great save from point-blank range to deny Fiachra Breathnach, who should have done better. Wearing the No.4 shirt, Shane Foley added to Leitrim's comeback, bringing them within a goal, but Galway replied with points from Nickey Joyce and Meehan to lead by 1-6 to 0-4 after 20 minutes. All Galway's early scores came from open play. On 25 minutes, Leitrim struck for a stunning goal. After Joyce's pass was blocked, the underdogs worked a good move the full length of the pitch and full forward Declan Maxwell (picked out by Philip McGuinness) sent a low bullet shot to the net past Paul Doherty via the butt of the left post. Maxwell also got another sight of goal a couple of minutes later but this time Finian Hanley dived bravely to block the big man's dropkicked effort. There were three points between the teams when midfielder Niall Coleman floated over a lovely point from distance, following a pass from Clancy, and Leitrim were denied a blatant penalty when Brian Crowe - who had an excellent game otherwise - chose to ignore Doherty's push on Brennan, as the Leitrim attacker tried to get back up off the deck in front of goal. Mulligan's free narrowed the gap to two and the unerring free-taker then swapped points with Nickey Joyce. The short whistle sounded with two points between the teams. The first two points of the second half went to Mulligan (free) and Meehan, who followed up with a free from the ground to make it 1-10 to 1-7 after 42 minutes. Mulligan then traded scores with substitute Cormac Bann and Maxwell closed the gap to just two points on the three-quarters mark. Once Mulligan lofted over his seventh free, the difference between the teams was down to the minimum, but the Galway response on 55 minutes was emphatic: Bann blasted his shot to the net from close range following an interchange with the hard-working Meehan. Meehan followed up with his fourth point and suddenly Galway's lead looked healthy again: 2-12 to 1-10. As Leitrim's stern resistance started to buckle under the incessant pressure, Joyce tagged on a free and the impressive Mulligan tagged back his eighth point for the losers. There was a flurry of wides at either end as the game petered out and Bann strengthened his claim for a starting place in the Connacht final as he clipped over a last-minute point. Mulligan tapped over two injury-time frees but Galway held out for a four-point win. Galway - P Doherty; G Bradshaw; F Hanley; D Burke; D Meehan; D Mullahy; G Sice; N Coleman (0-1); M Lydon; P Conroy; P Joyce (1-4, 1f); N Joyce (0-2); M Clancy (0-1); M Meehan (0-4, 1f); F Breathnach. Subs - B Cullinane for Lydon, C Bane (1-2) for Conroy, M Comer for Burke, S Armstrong for Breathnach. Leitrim - E Lyons; D Reynolds; J McKeon; M McGuinness; G Reynolds; B Prior; S Foley; G McCloskey; M Duignan; D O'Connor; P McGuinness; M Foley (0-1); E Mulligan (0-10, 10f); D Maxwell (1-1); D Brennan (0-1). Subs - D Duignan for O'Connor, J Glancy for M Foley, B McWeeney for D Reynolds, C Duignan for Brennan. Tweet

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