Galway boss Henry Shefflin is poised for a ‘strange’ showdown with the home district

“I think it was the start more than anything and I think we knew we had to start strong,” Shefflin said.

“I guess after seven days there was a bit of frustration. We didn’t practice much this week and I think it was just about going out there and starting strong. I think we did.

“Was there a sloppy game afterwards? Yes it was. If you had said at the outset that the job had been well done and that we had come through fairly unscathed, we would have been happy with that.

“We talked about efficiency last week. It obviously let us down and ended up hurting us badly, so it was something we talked about beforehand and it was gratifying to see.

“More than anything, I think they made the right choices. They used the ball very well. That was the most enjoyable part of the game.”

Attention now turns to next Sunday and all the hype surrounding Shefflin versus Brian Cody and his home district, but he said he came to terms with it a long time ago.

“Of course it’s going to be weird, but I came to terms with that a while back when I took this job. I said I have a job to do and it’s trying to get the best out of this group of players and that’s what we’re aiming for.

“I think the players in the room are trying really hard and we can’t ask for more than that.

“Obviously it’s a huge one for both teams. It’s Game 3. There’s going to be a lot of variability as to where teams will end up at the end of this campaign, so obviously it’s a big game. But every game is. This match tonight was a big game for us,” Shefflin added.

“We will recover. It’s been eight days now and we’re going to recover properly and just try to be prepared for the challenge ahead, which will obviously be a tremendous challenge.”

Galway are likely to be without Conor Whelan again next Sunday, while captain Daithí Burke and Pádraic Mannion were pulled back with batting on Saturday, but 13 players scored in the event, with Joseph Cooney 1-5 out and freshman in the lead took over Cianan Fahy scores 1-4. They blitzed Westmeath from the start, shooting 2-20 from their first 23 shots before recording a half-dozen wides before the break.

Both midfielders and all six forwards scored from open play by the 16th minute, while full-backs Pádraic Mannion and Fintan Burke also scored from distance in an impressive shot.

Ten different players scored for Galway in the first half as they built a 2-25-0-8 break lead. Fahy scored the opening goal after 13 minutes to take the 8-1 lead, while Joseph Cooney scored the second with a great play five minutes later.

Westmeath, who had been pressuring Kilkenny for a long time the previous weekend, simply had no answer, although Killian Doyle showed a master class in the clear and ended up going 0-14.

“Galway was electric for the first 10 or 15 minutes,” said Westmeath manager Joe Fortune. “They really made their way. I’m not surprised at the standard of slingshot they have either. We pulled away from them in the first half, I thought, but look, you have to give Henry the credit for the way he prepared.

Westmeath recovered somewhat after the restart when Derek McNicholas scored after 40 minutes while Doyle’s accuracy kept chipping away at the lead. But Galway pulled away again and Conor Cooney clinched home a penalty in the 56th minute after being fouled by Robbie Greville, who had a black card.

Goalscorers – Galway: C Cooney 1-8 (1-0 pen, 5f); J Cooney 1-5; C.Fahy 1-4; C Mannions 0-4; David Burke 0-3; B Concannon, G Lee, E Niland, P Mannion 0-2 each; T Monaghan, F Burke, D Morrissey, E Burke 0-1 each. Westmeath: K. Doyle 0-14 (12f, 1’65); D McNicholas 1-0; D Glennon, K Regan, J Bermingham 0-1 each.

Galway – E Murphy 7; J Grealish 6, Daithí Burke 6, D Morrissey 7; P Mannion 7, G McInerney 6, F Burke 7; David Burke 7, C Mannion 7; T Monaghan 6, C Cooney 8, J Cooney 8; E Niland 6, C Fahy 8, B Concannon 7. Substitutes: T Killeen 7 for P Mannion (ht) K Cooney 6 for Monaghan (52), G Lee 7 for Niland (59), É Burke 6 for C Cooney (63) , J Coen 6 for Daithi Burke (71).

Westmeath—C Bracken 7; C Shaw 5, T Doyle 7, J Bermingham 6; A Craig 5, R Greville 6, J Galvin 5; C Boyle 5, K Regan 5; D Glennon 5, D McNicholas 6, J Boyle 5; K Doyle 8, N O’Brien 5, N Mitchell 5. Subs: C Kane 6 for C Boyle, O McCabe 6 for McNicholas (51), A Cox 6 for T Doyle (52), J Gillen 6 for (58), S McGovern 6 for O’Brien (65).

Ref—P.Murphy (Carlow).