Missing 13 scoring chances in the first 35 minutes dented Mayo's confidence levels, which had already taken a battering due to their poor display against London last month.

But a run of five successive points, including Andy Moran-created scores for Alan Freeman and Cillian O'Connor, got the hosts into some rhythm against a Galway side that fell away badly.

The Tribesmen scored just one point in the entire second half and that was followed by Freeman's 58th-minute goal and three more Mayo efforts shared between Freeman and substitutes Ronan McGarrity and Enda Varley.

It put a gloss on what was a forgettable encounter but given the wet and windy conditions, it was never going to be one for the purists.

Speaking afterwards, Mayo manager Horan said: "We finished strongly and we kept going. We did well in the first half in terms of possession, we dominated the breaking ball - I think it was 17-4 - and we had a lot of shots, but we were a bit tentative in our shooting and that cost us.

"Still, we had enough possession and we knew at half-time that if we kept our composure we would eventually get the opportunities...so we are delighted with the win. Galway got in for a relatively soft goal but we knew that we would get the opportunities if we kept our work-rate up."

Man-of-the-match Andy Moran typified the hard graft put in by the home side, with the returning Trevor Mortimer, top scorer Freeman and midfielder Seamus O'Shea also standing out.

"We missed a few frees in the first half, a few misplaced passes, a few missed frees and had a few scares with yellow cards in the first half at full-back with Padraic Joyce in there. But we kept going and playing and got stronger and stronger throughout the game, so I'm delighted with that," added Horan.

"There is always relief when you win a Championship match. The London match was a good experience for us in a way. It definitely gave us a kick and it helped to sharpen us up for this game, no doubt about it. We're very pleased to be through to a provincial final and on Tuesday night we will get back to it again and prepare for Roscommon."

Galway boss Tomás Ó Flatharta was left picking out the few positives from his side's first competitive game since the end of the Allianz League in April.

"We were four points ahead at half-time. I felt that we could have had a bit more at that stage if we were more direct," he said.

"Any ball we played into the forwards, they more or less got a score. It was in the first half where we let it go. A lot of where we lost it was in the middle third.

"Breaking ball, we weren't getting the breaking balls and even the ones we got, we were presenting it to the Mayo lads and they finished it, easy passes to them. I think they got 1-4 out of it."

Ó Flatharta's men will have to regroup quickly as they have been drawn away to Meath in the second round of the All-Ireland qualifiers. That tie will take place on Saturday week (July 9).

Galway were the last team into Championship action this summer and the long wait since their relegation from Division 1 in early April was far from ideal preparation.

"I think the 11 or 12-week lay-off maybe didn't help us," admitted Ó Flatharta, who was reluctant to use it as an excuse.

"Hopefully (this game) will battle harden us for the qualifiers. We have a game behind us now, we have to pick it up ourselves - it's up to ourselves and we'll get on with it.

"I don't want to use excuses, you know not having a competitive game, I suppose the team that has played a Championship game before you has a bit of an advantage. But we gave some silly ball away and if we got more breaking ball around the middle, maybe it might have been different."