GAME IN SPOT OF BOTHER AS DUBS STROLL

KEVIN WALSH admitted Dublin are out on their own after seeing his Galway side swept aside in the All-Ireland semi-final.

Dublin are within touching distance of becoming only the fourth team in history - and first since 1981 - to win four-ina-row after a routine victory in front of 54,716 at Croke Park.

Although Tyrone and Monaghan still have their own semi-final to contest today, the gulf between Dublin and the chasing pack has rarely been so pronounced.

“It looks that way at the minute,” said Galway boss Walsh (inset). “They are highly experienced.

“They probably get stronger as the summer goes on and they have a huge panel and they know each other inside out so it’s up to ourselves and everyone else to close the gap.

“When we look at this at the end of the year, I keep talking about end of year accounts, we’ll look at ourselves to see if we have made progress or not, and if we can keep closing the gap on the tops teams.

“I just said to the boys there you never know who will be in the dressing room next year things change all the time so we’ll look at

Dublin Galway

ourselves and see what we have achieved.”

Just two points separated the sides at half time and Galway would have felt they should have been ahead at the break as they missed a penalty midway through that opening half.

However, they came out in the second half and hit 0-15, while their defence got on top of Ian Burke, Damien Comer and Shane Walsh. Dublin boss Jim Gavin was typically mundane in the aftermath of what was probably his side’s best display of the year.

“I think we’ve had some really good displays in the summer so far,” he said.

“I’m happy with the team performance, not only the guys who finished the game for us but in the shadows there’s another cohort of players pushing hard, not even for game time, but to get on the panel so the culture and environment that the guys have prepared for themselves, it’s all about the team.

“They are but the sum of their parts.”

SAVIOUR