ON his day, there is no more thrilling sight on the Gaelic football fields than Shane Walsh.

And yet, curiously, Saturday evening at Breffni Park was something of a redemption outing for the former All-Star.

You see, with ten minutes remaining in Galway’s titanic battle against Derry a fortnight previously, Walsh was subbed despite scoring a second half goal out of nothing,

In the wake of that game, some fans were wondering if the Player of the Year contender in 2022 was fully fit; had he truly shaken off lingering injuries.

Walsh – a little like last year’s All-Ireland Final – didn’t appear to be generating the expected power in his shooting attempts, especially from frees.

In the early stages against Armagh, Walsh’s first scoring effort felt short, and he would subsequently miss the target twice, fueling fears that the 32-year-old still wasn’t 100% right.

But by the end of an epic encounter, Walsh was being mobbed by Galway fans after delivering a timely Man of the Match performance, thanks to his haul of nine points, including six glorious efforts from play,

Furthermore, Walsh also held his nerve to covert the winning score with the last kick of the game from a 40m free after Paul Conroy had been fouled.

But Shane wouldn’t be Shane if there wasn’t the odd moment of madness. Like when he unexpectedly went sideways with a 60th minute free, only for Armagh to intercept and create a point for Andrew Murnin.

Yet, without him on Saturday evening, Galway would have been beaten. He teased and tormented Armagh all evening; his wonderful balance, and the ability to kick off either left or right foot making him a nightmare to mark.

Walsh was naturally thrilled that Galway had pulled it out of the fire at Breffni Park, but what was going through his mind when standing over that last free and the chance to snatch victory?

Pictured: Galway’s Shane Walsh celebrates after kicking the winning point against Armagh in Saturday’s All-Ireland Senior Football Group 4 clash at Kingspan Breffni. Photo: Ben McShane/Sportsfile.