Sallins secure Leinster IFC title with dramatic final victory over Tubberclair
CHAMPIONS: Sallins' Luke Killian in action. Pic: Sean Brilly
Sallins became the third Kildare side in a row to win the Leinster Intermediate Championship after a dramatic and action-packed final in Cedral St Conleths Park.
Cian Grimes and James Dalton netted in the final ten minutes as they followed in the recent footsteps of Allenwood and Caragh to become the eighth Kildare team overall to win the competition, double the amount of any other county.
It didn’t look likely midway through the second half after a power-packed third quarter by Westmeath’s Tubberclair. They scored two goals as they came from six points down at half time and when Paul Keegan fisted them level in the 49th minute, there looked like there would only be one likely winner.
Sallins’ county star Colm Dalton was severely hampered by a hamstring injury and went off in the 24th minute before reappearing in the 39th minute before they also lost midfielder Paul Farrelly to injury. But despite all those setbacks, they found a way to win.
They had a strong wind behind them in the first half and kicked three two-pointers, two of those coming from the excellent Cian Grimes either side of an effort by Emmet Ralph, but that was all they scored apart from a Grimes free in the last action before the break.
Tubbclair only managed a 13th minute point by Matthew Whittaker against the wind and Sallins led 0-7 to 0-1 before the change of ends.
It took Tubberclair less than two after the restart to ignite their challenge when Daire O’Connor pounced on a rare mistake by goalkeeper Matthew Farrelly to net from close range.
Whittaker and Grimes swapped points but when Whittaker popped up for a 44th minute goal it only added to belief that it was going to be Tubberclair’s day.
Keegan then levelled it and it felt like only a matter of time before his team took the lead. But incredibly, against the run of play and against all odds, Sallins turned the game in their favour.
Grimes fisted the ball to net in the 51st after he was central to a move that progressed up along the left involving James Datlon and Sean Conway. Glen McEvoy then tagged on a point 30 seconds later.
That sucked the belief out of Tubberclair and Sallins wrapped up the win in the last minute of normal time when James Dalton and Stephen Kelly cut through the backline with some delightful link up play before Kelly played the final pass to leave Dalton with the simple task of palming into the empty net and spark huge celebrations for the Sallins supporters.
C Grimes (1-7, 4fs, 1tp, 1tpf), J Dalton (1-0), E Ralph (0-2, 1tp), S Kelly (1f), G McEvoy (0-1 each).
M Whittaker (1-2), D O'Connor (1-0), E McCabe, P Keegan (0-1 each).
M Farrelly; R O'Domhnaill, M Moynihan, S O'Domhnaill; L Kelly, E McConnon, G McEvoy; D Mangan, P Farrelly; C Grimes, C Dalton, L Killian; S Kelly, E Ralph, J Dalton.
A Marshall for C Dalton, 24; S Conway for Farrelly, 37; C Dalton for Ralph, 39; D Keane for McConnon, 44; A Carney for Moynihan, 50.
K Fagan; S McGonagle, C Tighe, L Staunton; T Slevin, T Kelleher, M Whittaker; S Claffey, E McCabe; P Keegan, F Kelleher, T Bourke; K Connell, D O'Connor, G Delaney.
K Fagan for Staunton, 52; O O'Meara for Slevin, 54; F Duffy for Bourke, 54; P Garvey for Tighe, 56.
Stephen Fagan (Wicklow).
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