Leitrim revival gives Joyce a brief scare before Galway pull clear  

An 11th Connacht Final in a row for the Tribesmen but they were made to work a little harder than they thought for it

STICKY SPOT: Conor Flaherty of Galway and Fergal McLoughlin of Leitrim react to the penalty decision during their 2026 Connacht GAA Football Senior Championship Semi-Final, Heartland Credit Union Páirc Seán Mac Diarmada, Carrick-On-Shannon. Pic: INPHO/James Lawlor

Connacht SFC SF: Galway 1-20 Leitrim 2-12 

Galway were given something of a shock before they overcame the challenge of a brave Leitrim outfit in a competitive Connacht semi-final clash in Carrick-on-Shannon.

The Tribesmen led all the way in this clash but two second-half Leitrim goals by Oisin McLoughlin and Jack Kelly put the home side in the hunt for what would have been a major upset had they turned the tables on the visitors.

A 57th-minute Dylan McHugh goal gave Galway a big shot in the arm prior to a Leitrim surge. Galway manager Padraic Joyce was happy to have Paul Conroy on the field for the whole game while Shane Walsh and Damien Comer made quite an impact when introduced as second-half subs.

It took both teams quite some time to settle into the game with each side registering wides at opposite ends. After that John Daly opened Galway's account with an eight minute point while over the next five minutes Robert Finnerty put over a free for the Tribesmen and Finnian Ó'Laoi chipped in with a point.

Riordan O'Rourke opened Leitrim account when he split the Galway uprights on the 13-minute mark. Galway stretched their lead over the next seven minutes with a Liam Ó'Conghaile point and Paul Conroy two-pointer.

Leitrim halved Galway's advantage when goalkeeper Killian Gaffey put over a two-pointer from a placed ball 23 minutes in. After that Galway extended their lead with a Robert Finnerty two-pointed free and a Cillian McDaid point shortly afterwards.

Galway had a let-off when Barry McNulty drove a 29th-minute goal chance inches wide. Prior to the break, Liam Ó'Conghaile whipped over a two-pointer to put Galway ahead by 0-11 to 0-4 at the interval.

After the restart Leitrim reduced the gap on Galway to three points on the 47-minute mark when Oisin McLoughlin got the game's opening goal after a Ryan O'Rourke penalty was saved by Galway goalkeeper Conor Gleson.

Galway upped the game again over the next number of minutes with Dylan McHugh firing to the Leitrim net while John Maher, Shane Walsh (free), Paul Conroy and Sean Kelly all split the Leitrim uprights.

Leitrim answered with a Jack Kelly palmed goal as well as a Paul Honeyman two-pointer and a Killian Gaffey '45' conversion.

Following that Galway finished off the second half with a small flourish when Rob Finnerty added a point from a free and Walsh also split the Leitrim posts to put them through the Tribesmen through to their 11th Connacht final in a row.

Scorers for Galway: R Finnerty 0-4 (1tp, 2f); P Conroy (1tp), S Walsh (2f) and L Ó Conghaile (1tp) 0-3 each; D McHugh 1-0; C McDaid 0-2; S Kelly, S McGrath, J Maher, F Ó Laoi and J Daly 0-1 each.

Scorers for Leitrim: O McLoughlin 1-1; K Gaffey 0-3 (1tpf, 145); J Kelly 1-0; Riordan O'Rourke, B McNulty (tpf) and P Honeyman (tp) 0-2 each; B Guckian (f) and Ryan O'Rourke (f) 0-1 each.

Galway: C Flaherty; J McGrath, S Fitzgerald, S Ó'Mailcharáin; D McHugh, J Daly, L Silke; P Conroy, John Maher; Finnian Ó'Laoí, Liam Ó'Conghaile, Cillian McDaid; Robert Finnerty, Céin Darcy, Oisín MacDonnacha. 

Subs: S Walsh & S McGrath for Mac Donnacha & O' Laoi (41); C Gleeson for Ó'Conghaile (48); S Kelly for McGrath (61); S McGrath for Flaherty (68); M Bairéid for McDaid (69).

Leitrim: K Gaffey; C McGloin; C Reynolds, S Harkin; E McLoughlin, M Diffley, K Keegan; C Quinn, B McNulty; F McLoughlin, R O'Rourke, T Prior; B Guckian, R O'Rourke , O McLoughlin. Subs: P Honeyman for Guckian (45); J Kelly for F Mcloughlin (54); K Clancy for Harkin (57); E McNamara for McGloin (60); M McKiernan for Quinn (69).

Referee: N Cullen (Fermanagh).