The third cut was the sweetest, says Tribe corner-back Kerin

The “sweetest”, declared corner-back Eoghan Kerin on his return to the Galway dressing-room early on Sunday evening.

The defender was at full-back for the county’s surprise Connacht championship win over Mayo in 2016 and while he missed last year’s victory through injury, he didn’t need to put too much thought into which of the three triumphs was the most satisfying.

Mayo, off the back of Galway’s league run to the Division 1 final, knew exactly what they were coming up against and although Stephen Rochford’s charges dealt admirably with the setback of losing Diarmuid O’Connor to a red card after 30 minutes, they were unable to prevent a third successive championship defeat to their neighbours.