The same sides contested the final last year with Paul Henry’s Yeats county claiming their second provincial title on the bounce and the Tribesmen set out to avenge that defeat in the opening half here.
Galway played with a strong breeze on their backs and hit some sensational scores in the first 30 minutes, late change Jack Mullin with four of their 13 first-half points as they comfortably led by 0-13 to 1-2 at the interval.
Shay McGlinchey, Colm Costello and captain Matthew Thompson all added two points each in the first half for Derek Savage’s men who looked extremely comfortable on the ball.
They kept Sligo to just two Luke Marren points on before Yeats men scored their goal just before the interval – Robert O’Kelly-Lynch found Conor Flynn who smashed home.
Sligo’s James Donlon had a chance to reduce the gap after the resumption but the free was just wide before Conor Heneghan also saw his effort go wide down the other end.
Mullin set up Colm Costello who had the ball in the back of the net for Galway on 36 minutes but it was disallowed for being a square ball.
Marren hit two excellent scores for Sligo on the bounce but they needed to find their second goal but Galway kept the scoreboard ticking over as they booked their place in the decider with Roscommon.
Scorers – Galway: J Mullin, C Costello (2f) 0-4 each, M Thomspon 0-3 (1f), E McGrath (’45, 1f), S McGlinchey, C Murphy, C Mulhern 0-2 each; R Coen, M Mannion, J Lonergan, F MacDonnacha 0-1 each. Sligo: C Flynn 1-0; L Marren 0-5 (3f); E Rooney 0-3 (1f); R Sloyan, R O’Kelly-Lynch, C Sheridan, R Niland 0-1 each.
Galway: E McGrath, S Canavan, B Noone, D Costello, R Coen, J Folan, M Mannion, S McGlinchey, C Heneghan, M Thompson (C), J Lonergan, C Costello, J Mullin, C Murphy, C Mulhern. Subs: F MacDonnacha for Mullin (45), D Kilcommins for Heneghan (51), L O’Connor for Folan (54), P Godwin for Mannion (54), C Greaney for Coen (59)
Sligo: E Carden, R O’Hehir, C Johnston, T Ross, R O’Callaghan, D McLoughlin, R Sloyan, C Sheridan, R Doherty (C), C Walsh, R Niland, J Donlon, R O’Kelly-Lynch, L Marren, C Flynn. Subs: D Walsh for (h/t), E Rooney for Donlon (38), M Mc Daniel for Flynn (40), E Barrett for Johnston (46), O Harte for Ross (49)
Ref: M McGirl (Leitrim).
