Paul Conroy's commanding midfield performance for Galway in Saturday's Connacht SFC semi-final win over Mayo has earned the St James' star the GAA.ie Football Player of the Week award.

Conroy, who scored two points during a shock Galway win, received 57.4% of the votes.

Carlow's Brendan Murphy was in second place with 22.1%, while Leitrim's Ronan Kennedy was third with 20.5%.

GAA.ie Football Player of the Week

1: Paul Conroy - 3491 votes (57.4%)

2: Brendan Murphy - 1348 votes (22.1%)

3: Ronan Kennedy - 1247 votes (20.5%)

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Back in 2007 Paul Conroy captained Galway to All Ireland minor glory.  A year later Conroy won a Connacht SFC title, but the intervening years have been stuffed with painful defeats.

That is why Conroy's performance on Saturday against Mayo mattered so much.

Conroy won a string of kickouts in the opening half and landed two immaculate points after the restart.

Making 31 plays Conroy showed why he is so relevant to the Galway cause.

Carlow had been spirited when losing to Louth in the Leinster SFC, and Turlough O'Brien's gutsy team delivered a win against Wicklow at Netwatch Cullen Park.

Brendan Murphy was immense for Carlow, producing a fine midfield display, scoring 1-4 during the contest.

A first minute goal from the experienced Murphy, who subsequently received a black card late on, set the agenda and Carlow carved out a splendid success.

Leitrim's poor record in the All Ireland football qualifiers is always discussed so that is why Sunday's win over Waterford was greeted with such jubilance.

Ronan Kennedy was prominent for Leitrim registering seven points, including four in the first half.

Those early scores edged Leitrim 0-7 to 0-2 ahead at the interval and though Waterford responded Shane Ward's team held out.

***Players of the Week are decided based on votes cast by followers of @officialgaa on Twitter, on the Official GAA Facebook Page and on the Official GAA Instagram page
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