An Ghaeltacht had to keep heads to get over the line, says Ó Beaglaoich

Sallins' three-up breach went unpenalised at the end of the second-half in their All-Ireland final four clash.

Tue, 06 Jan, 2026 - 07:13

Eoghan Cormican

Ruaidhrí Ó Beaglaoich has said that only for his An Ghaeltacht teammates being able to park their fury over the Sallins three-up breach not penalised at the end of the second-half, then the West Kerry club would not be going to Croke Park this weekend.

Behind by the minimum in second-half injury-time, the Kildare and Leinster champions had only one player inside the opposition half as they frantically sought to work possession out from the back after a Cathal Ó Beaglaoich point attempt had dropped short.

The breach, despite being brought to the attention of referee Seán Lonergan and his sideline match officials, was not penalised. James Dalton kicked the leveler 34 seconds from the end of the allotted three injury-time minutes, with An Ghaeltacht players voicing their anger at Lonergan and linesman David Murnane when extra-time was whistled for.

“I'd say a lot of us lost the head there at the end (over the breach). But then when we came back in, you can't keep thinking about that. You have to get over it. If we were thinking about that in extra time, we would have had no chance at all. We just had to forget about it,” said the Gaeltacht centre-forward.

Extra-time was home to only four scores. Prior to Éanna Ó Conchúir’s winning two-point free in the 83rd minute, An Ghaeltacht had eight scoring opportunities. They took only one.

“There were a lot of mistakes. There were a lot of tired bodies. There were a lot of hand-passes just going along the ground. But like, both teams were doing the exact same.

“Sallins were trying to hold on to it, and they did it very well, in fairness to them. It's just we got lucky there. I don't even know what happened at the end,” Ó Beaglaoich said of the 50-metre advancement given against Emmet Ralph for not releasing the ball after being called for overcarrying.

First-choice free-taker Ó Beaglaoich, subbed off at that point, had successfully kicked an earlier two-point free into the same Blackrock End.

Would he have kicked for one, or did as Ó Conchúir and brought the ball back outside the arc?

“I don't know. It doesn't matter now, it went over the bar. You'd back him (Éanna) any day of the week to kick that, we were very happy.” What the full 83 minutes at Páirc Uí Chaoimh clearly demonstrated was the depth of the Gaeltacht panel. Already without injured captain Franz Sauerland, they then had to begin without four of their Munster final starters. And with no guarantee that any of the heavily strapped quartet - Tomás Ó Sé (DC), Rónan, Brian, or Cathal Ó Beaglaoich - will be involved from the start in this Sunday’s decider against Glenullin of Derry, the semi-final was a timely reminder of their back-up strength.

Tomás Ó Sé (BB) kicked their sole extra-time score from play. Seán Ó Gairbhí, on top of everything he did in the regulation hour, produced a huge block on 76 minutes to prevent Sallins going two in front. Seán Ó Cuinn was another late call-up to excel around the middle.

“Like every game, it's always about the panel. When you have fellas coming in, you trust every single one of them. Seán Ó Cuinn, Seán Ó Gairbhí, they all had massive games. You trust them any time they play,” continued Ruaidhrí Ó Beaglaoich.

From trailing Gneeveguilla by five entering injury-time in the county quarter-final to surviving last Saturday in their depleted state, Éanna Ó Conchúir said this latest Croker date is one they have fully earned.

“For us as a club, it's our second time going to Croke Park and our third time trying to get there. So it's a huge relief. There's a lot of hard work gone in and a few lucky days this year where we've got over the line, but you make your own luck, I suppose.

“To go to Croke Park to represent my club, win, lose or draw, is an honour. We'll go up there and give it our best chance.”