Danny Cummins’s first half goal meant Galway got the reward their best performance of the year deserved, and it puts them in the driving seat to reach the league final, which will be guaranteed with victory over Tyrone next weekend.

According to Walsh, his side had been conscious of avoiding relegation before their latest victory, but now that they’re safe they’re free to have a cut off Mickey Harte’s side.

“We weren’t safe before today so we needed to go out and have a performance regardless of the situation of the league,” said Walsh.

“Obviously Roscommon were going to come as hard as they could as well because they are fighting relegation at the minute.

“Since the start of the year we wanted to stay in Division 1 and we’ve achieved that now, he added.

“Also we wanted to get some newer players playing and we’ve achieved that. We’ve another game to go we’ll see what happens; we’ll take it on it’s merits, and we’ll see how it goes.

“We’ve achieved our goal now, and with injuries and club commitments it’s good to be on eight points this evening.”

Played in stormy conditions, Galway made the most of the wind to lead 1-11 to 0-7 at half-time.

Cummins fired the goal a minute from the break, but Shane Walsh and Antaine Ó Laoí were instrumental in building that lead.

At the other end Roscommon caused infrequent problems, but Conor Cox was the hub of activity in that region. He finished with 1-4 for his side, although his penalty ten minutes after the break for a foot-block only caused Galway to stutter briefly.

Galway’s back line hardly gave Roscommon a sniff with Sean Andy Ó Ceallaigh and David Wynne in form, and Roscommon manager Anthony Cunningham was left to rue their frailties as they try to plot the downfall of Kerry in a bid to avoid the drop.

“Galway are a very defensive team as well so space was at a minimum. For us, it’s really trying to get better than that,” said Cunningham.

“You can’t afford to go 23 minutes without a point. Having said that, we did create some chances in the second half and we’d have been a small bit happier with our performance in that half, but it wasn’t at the level we wanted it.

“(We still have) a massive chance. It may be out of our hands but we have got to win.

“Irrespective of what anyone else does, we want a huge performance. We want to get back to the levels we saw for 50 minutes against Dublin, what we saw in the Tyrone match and the Monaghan match.

“Guys knows that they can get to that level, but the big question is can we produce that, in the Hyde, when it matters most. That’s a question of leadership, and guys having the will to go on and prove that. Backs to the wall, let’s see how we respond.”

Scorers for Galway:

D Cummins (1-2); S Walsh (0-4, 3 frees); A O’Laoi (0-4, 2 frees); G O’Donnell (0-2); J Daly, G Bradshaw, C Duggan, C D’Arcy, M Daly (0-1 each).

Scorers for Roscommon:

C Cox (1-4, 1-0 pen, 2 frees); D Smith(free), C Lavin (45), C Daly, E Smith, C Cregg, T O’Rourke (0-1 each).

GALWAY:

R Lavelle; E Kerin, S Ó Cellaigh, D Wynne; G O’Donnell, J Daly, G Bradshaw; T Flynn, C Duggan; P Cooke, S Walsh, J Heaney; D Cummins, M Daly, A Ó Laoí.

Subs for Galway:

S Kelly for O’Donnell (58), F O’Laoi for Cummins (68), P Cunningham for Walsh (70), C D’Arcy for Flynn (72).

ROSCOMMON:

C Lavin; D Murray, C Daly, G Patterson; C Devaney, N Daly, R Daly; T O’Rourke, S Killoran; N Kilroy, C Cregg, E Smith; C Lennon, C Cox, D Smith.

Subs for Roscommon:

U Harney for E Smith (h-t), S Mullooly for R Daly (h-t), A Lyons for D Smith (51), C Compton for Cregg (56), H D’Arcy for Kilroy (63).

Referee:

C Lane (Cork).

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