GALWAY HURLING MANAGER Henry Shefflin has stepped down from the role, becoming the second county manager to walk away within 24 hours following Davy Fitzgerald’s departure from Waterford.

Speculation surrounded Shefflin’s future this year after they failed to get out of the Leinster round-robin championship this year, and now the Ballyhale man has called an end to his three-year term in charge of the Tribesmen.

They opened brightly with a win over Carlow and a draw with Kilkenny, but a shock defeat to Wexford in round three followed by a loss to Dublin in the final round saw them eliminated.

Last year they came achingly close to the provincial title, leading against Kilkenny in the dying seconds before Cats sub Cillian Buckley hit a goal in the final moments.

A statement from Galway GAA confirmed the news, with chairman Paul Bellew stating:

“On behalf of Galway GAA, I want to place on record our sincere thanks to Henry for the leadership, energy and commitment he has given Galway hurling over the past three seasons.

“Henry has driven the highest standards possible during his tenure and left a lasting positive impact on our playing group and on Galway hurling. His mentality and will to win remains unmatched and the group will reap the benefits of this.

“Henry has been outstanding to deal with over the last three years and this is reflected in the esteem he is held in by our players, supporters and all involved in Galway GAA.

“We also want to thank and acknowledge the massive contribution of Richie O’Neill, Damien Joyce, Kevin Lally and Eamon O’Shea and the wider background team for their efforts during Henry’s term.”

Galway now seek to make a fresh appointment. The obvious names that will come up will include current Dublin manager and Galway’s former All-Ireland winning manager Micheál Donoghue.

Fitzgerald’s name had been attached to the job the last time it came up and it will inevitably be linked here again.