GALWAY travel north to Markievicz Park this evening to take on Sligo, hoping to banish their abysmal recent record against their great provincial rivals.
Despite failing to beat the Yeats County in their last three Championship meetings, the Tribesmen will enter the game as red-hot favourites. The last time the sides met in the 2012 Connacht SFC first round, the Yeats County recorded a comfortable 2-14 to 0-15 win but the Galway line-up has changed drastically since then.
All-Ireland U21 titles in 2011 and 2013 have seen Galway produce a host of promising stars and Alan Mulholland will put his faith in those prospects again tonight.
Sligo won all three of their home fixtures at Markievicz Park during a mediocre Allianz National Football League campaign and are renowned for turning their 15,000 capacity stadium into a mini fortress.
Mulholland seemed happy to field the same 15 that beat London by 19 points in last month's Connacht SFC quarter-final. However, Aongus Tierney has been drafted in at corner-back in place of departed panellist Johnny Duane, who was dropped from the squad last week for "internal reasons".
Galway were simply emphatic at times in the game against the Exiles and were 11 points ahead after just 20 minutes. The attacking triumvirate of Shane Walsh, Michael Martin and Danny Cummins caused London huge problems and they notched a combined tally of 2-10. Walsh and Cummins got the majority of the scores but Martin pulled the strings and made things happen for Mulholland's men. Sligo will need to curtail the trio's influence if they are to get anything from this game.
Sligo manager Pat Flanagan, meanwhile, has been handed a timely boost as captain Adrian Marren has been passed fit to play after recovering from an ankle injury. The Curry corner-forward hit 2-6 when Sligo defeated Galway in 2012 and he will be central to his team's hopes of claiming another scalp.
Surprisingly, Aidan Devaney, Johnny Martyn and David Rooney - who all played in last month's Connacht JFC final win over Leitrim - are named in the starting line-up. Devaney starts in goal while Martyn and Rooney play at full-back and wing half-forward respectively. Shane McManus partners James Kilcullen in midfield, while the fit-again duo David Kelly and Pat Hughes are named alongside skipper Marren in the full-forward line.
Expect Galway to exert revenge this evening but the Tribesmen certainly won't have it all their own way.
MATCH STATS
Sligo: A Devaney; R Donovan, J Martyn, N Ewing;
C Harrison, A McIntyre, K Cawley; J Kilcullen, S McManus; D Rooney, M Breheny, B Egan; P Hughes, A Marren, D Kelly
Galway: M Breathnach; D O'Neill, F Hanley, A Tierney;
G Bradshaw, G O'Donnell , P Varley; F Ó Curraoin, T Flynn; M Lundy, S Walsh, J Kavanagh; M Martin, E Hoare,
D Cummins