Pain before glory; Sallins' long road through Kildare to the Leinster final

Speaking at full-time of their Leinster Semi-Final win over Clara, Sallins captain Daragh Mangan said, “This crowd has been unreal. I touched on it in the speech after the county final, but the amount of heartbreak that we have given Sallins and now you can see the joy that so many people are getting out of these games. We just want as many of them here for the final as possible.”

On many occasions, GAA clubs and GAA players will adopt a siege mentality and ‘that everyone is against us’ and that ‘everyone has written us off’. In reality, it is rarely true. However, in Sallins' case, they have earned their right to revel in their newfound success. This was a team pegged years ago as contenders and a young and coming force in Kildare, who were then ridiculed for and harshly critiqued on their failings after dramatic knockout fixture losses to Castledermot in 2022 and Monasterevin in ‘23 before failing to perform against strong Caragh side in ‘24 to unceremoniously exit the Championship they had been favoured for. This Sallins team, talented as they were, were labelled as a side who couldn’t do it when it mattered most and had made a habit out of losing games that they were in command of in knockout football. Their late losses in ‘22 and ‘23 had stopped last year, but they had again faltered when they met a well-drilled Caragh outfit.

2022

Sallins’ 2022 IFC semi-final defeat was perhaps the most painful of all to witness. It was their biggest collapse, but it was also seemingly early in this exciting young team’s development. It could be written off as a team who will come good and they did, eventually. There are underwhelming performances that could be criticised in the years that followed, but that could not be said about Sallins in 2022, who were brilliant against Casteldermot and led by six points with 10 minutes to go. It was great work that was quickly undone as they conceded a penalty and were given a black card in a painful two-punch sequence in the 53rd minute. Two minutes into added time, the teams were level and, with the last kick of the game, Gavin Keating broke Sallins hearts with an exceptional free-kick to send Castledermot into the decider.

2023

Sallins exited the 2023 Championship with a dramatic late loss to Monasterevin with Padraig Nash sending the favoured side out with a goal in the final minute of extra-time. A fatal mistake from a kickout resulted in Nash finding the net and sending Monasterevin through with a 2-8 to 0-11 victory. It was again a disappointing showing from Sallins and a fascinating fixture to look back on given the trajectory of both clubs since. 

2024

Sallins met future Leinster Intermediate champions and 2025 Kildare Senior Championship quarter-finalists Caragh in the last eight in 2024. Their 0-12 to 0-8 loss has aged better with time having seen what Caragh have gone on to achieve, but there was no denying that again the Championship favourites had performed poorly in a big knockout game. Even with the knowledge of Caragh’s future success, Sallins’ showing in that game was meek and their late attempts to rectify their poor performance were too little too late as they exited the Championship with a whimper.

Improvements

Sallins’ awareness of their shortcomings and the humility of the players to address it head on has been part of their strength this year. Both manager Jonathan Daniels and captain Daragh Mangan have spoken forthrightly about their approach to their team’s mentality and how what had gone before needed to be spoken about in honest terms. 

Speaking after their county final win over St Laurence’s, manager Jonathan Daniels said, “I’d say my phone rang two years ago because I have been in finals with teams and they (Sallins) were probably looking for someone to come in and look at how we manage this, how do we manage emotion, how do we manage momentum.

“That is a big thing that we worked on all year, we don’t have a tactics board in the dressing room, we don’t need a tactics board. We have a very talented group of players and it was all about managing emotions, managing games, managing situations and we put a lot of stock in that this year. It probably helped them because they have had some crushing defeats over the last four years where they have gone in as huge favourites, and as the form team, and come out on the wrong side of games.”

Daniels added, “Every team needs, and in life as well, a bit of trauma and they persevere through it and they learn from it, grow from it, and this team has had a lot of trauma and they have learnt from it. We have referenced it a good few times, that Caragh game last year where we went in as favourites and never raised a gallop at all. Things like that are the reference points that we go back to all year.”

The team

The heartbreaking losses outlined above have not been lost to time either with many of the Sallins players currently enjoying this rich vein of form carrying the scars from their previous campaigns. Comparing the starting XV’s in their win over Clara and their quarter-final defeat to Caragh in 2024, there are 11 names in common with two of the four differences being that of Cian Grimes and Emmet Ralph starting, who had both started at the same stage the year prior. Mark Moynihan and Glen McEvoy, both of whom have enjoyed stellar campaigns this year, are the standout changes. Alongside the four changes, new faces or not, there has been a collective improvement in almost every player.

Looking across the previous three years, the main changes have been at the back with the adjustments in the frontline being more positional than personnel. Sallins’ defeats to Monasterevin and Castledermot shared eight starters with their Leinster semi-final win over Clara.

The introduction of Matthew Farrelly between the sticks has been crucial for Sallins and, as recently as their semi-final win over the Offaly champions, he was saving certain goals with superb saves. His shot-stopping and distribution have been a crucial platform for their success in 2025. Sallins’ concession of a goal against Clara was just the second time they have done so in Championship football in 2025.

Aiding Farrelly’s defensive record has been a superb full-back line of Ruairi O'Domhnaill, who has operated there for some time, alongside Sean O'Domhnaill who moved from wing-back and has found a home deeper. The O'Domhnaill’s have flanked Mark Moynihan (and occasionally Aaron Carney) to complete one of the stingiest full-back lines in Kildare and Leinster football.

Another major adjustment for Sallins has been the change in the role of Paul Farrelly who was consistently named among the forward line for his club in years gone by, but this year has started alongside Daragh Mangan in a mighty midfield partnership. Farrelly has been superb alongside his captain and the changing of his role has been an inspired one.

Sallins have suffered and have now succeeded out of their county. What lies in front of them can elevate them far beyond a fine Kildare Intermediate team and into the rank and lineage of provincial champions as they tackle Tubberclair for the Leinster Intermediate Championship title on December 14 in Cedral St Conleth’s Park.

SEE NEXT: PICTURE: Kildare GAA Awards