By Declan Rooney
Castlebar Mitchels 2-10 Corofin 0-11
Castlebar Mitchels picked up the fourth Connacht senior title in their history and dethroned All-Ireland champions Corofin after a pulsating provincial football final at Tuam Stadium.
Goals in each half from Barry Moran and Neil Douglas saw the Mayo side to victory – their second in the last three years – as Stephen Rochford's Corofin were second best throughout.
It took until the fifth minute for the first score of the game to arrive, and full-back Kieran Fitzgerald was a strange recipient of the honour with a fine point from the right wing.
The All-Ireland champions hadn’t lost a Connacht championship game since their semi-final defeat to Mitchels in 2013, and Martin Farragher's point following an excellent diagonal pass from Conor Cunningham got them off to a two-point lead by the sixth minute.
But Mitchels have been impressive on their way through Mayo and by Roscommon champions Clann na nGael in the last four, and Neil Lydon's seventh minute point settled them into the game.