PREVIEW: Sallins meet swashbuckling Tubberclair in pursuit of Leinster Championship glory for Kildare

Sallins booked their place with a paltry nine-point win over Clara to reach the 2025 AIB Leinster Club Intermediate Football Championship final. No club had got within 10 points of Sallins in Championship football this year before the Offaly champs visited Cedral St Conleth’s Park, so are the Kildare men falling away at the just the wrong time? 

Of course not and, joking aside, Sallins’ still, in the end, convincing victory over Clara will have done their confidence a world of good. No side has really questioned them, or been allowed to, this year but the Offaly men came armed and ready with a boisterous crowd in tow. 

After the game, Sallins captain Daragh Mangan was the visibly happiest he had been since the county final after leading his side through a raucous atmosphere and overcoming a half-time deficit. Manager Jonathan Daniels admitted he was “very concerned” that his team had not been tested after their dominant victory over Kilbride in their quarter-final meeting, but now they have been and they passed with flying colours.

Colm Dalton

Other than what I’m sure is a very proud family, Colm Dalton’s number one fan is his captain, Daragh Mangan. The towering midfielder has heaped praise on Dalton’s influence this year and has not been shy about it. Nor should he be, the centre-forward has been absolutely immense in 2025 and a joy to watch throughout this campaign.

The Sallins star is one of those players that makes you lean forward in your chair when he gets on the ball, your body tilting towards the pitch at the prospect of a moment of magic. Against Clara, spectators could be forgiven for leaning so far forward that they fell off their seats with the centre-forward taking on a central role when it mattered most. Dalton demanded possession and drove past people at will, he knocked over four points but likely created twice that between his trickery and the opposition's desperation to stop him. 

To say he holds the key for Sallins’ success in their Leinster Final outing would be almost redundant. The difference between success and failure in Intermediate football can often be a player like Dalton, many well-rounded and organised teams have faltered without a focal point or a player to look to when it's time to create. Dalton is that man for Sallins and he more often than not delivers. 

The centre-forward has received praise here, there, everywhere this year and deserved it, but he has certainly not begun to believe his own hype. When asked about taking the game by the scruff of the neck against Clara, Dalton humbly began his answer with “Yeah, I try my best…”

Tubberclair

The Westmeath Intermediate Champions have had a fascinating journey to this point themselves with a dramatic late winner to clinch their county being followed by an interesting to say the least path through Leinster.

2025 All-Ireland U20 ‘B’ winner with Westmeath Taylor Slevin was the man to clinch things for Tubberclair in the county IFC final. The corner-back fired over from outside the arc in injury-time meaning his side finished as 0-17 to 0-15 winners over Shandonagh in Cusack Park. There has been massive discussion about Sallins being tested, and they finally were against Clara before coming good, but Tubberclair earned their stripes early with a win in the dying embers to claim glory in Westmeath.

County glory sent Tuberclair into the path of Kilkenny Senior champions Mullinavat, who have won seven of the last nine in their county, and it was the Westmeath men who were well on top come the end of things. The eventual winners didn’t have it all their own way though and held just a one-point lead at the break before being inspired forward by midfielder and intercounty man Eoghan McCabe, who will no doubt be a key figure heading into the Sallins fixture. McCabe can score from distance and has an eye from outside the arc, his battle with whichever of Daragh Mangan and Paul Farrelly picks him up will be fascinating. McCabe has kicked seven points against both Mullinavat and Hunterstown Rovers in the Leinster Championship.

This win sent Tubberclair into the quarter-finals and in truth into the semi-finals as they met the widely-discussed St Martin’s team that made wholesale changes to focus on hurling in 2025. The St Martin’s hurlers were of course the team to knock Naas out of the Leinster SHC earlier this year and Tubberclair beat the tanked Martin’s footballers 2-27 to 0-1 on a floodlit 4G pitch in Mullingar.

If their quarter-final was of no benefit to their credentials, Tubberclair’s final four clash with Hunterstown Rovers definitely was, the Westmeath side beating the Louth champs 4-16 to 4-12 in an absolute cracker. If you thought their late winner from a young corner-back to win the county final was dramatic, it had nothing on their closing 10 minutes of their Leinster Semi-Final. 

Tubberclair led by six points headed into added time but were reduced to 13 players after Eoghan McCabe was black carded with Tom Bourke having already been dismissed for two yellow card offences. The Louth side hit two goals in two minutes and, with the game level, had a two man advantage. Tubberclair looked in the deepest of trouble but were inspired forward by Westmeath star Matthew Whittaker who, after a brilliant bursting run up the pitch, set up Fred Kelleher to score. Kelleher’s effort was blocked out for a ‘45 but, after consultation with his umpires, referee Dan Stynes awarded a penalty for a foot block. Kelleher converted for his third goal and second penalty which all but secured Tubberclair’s progression to the final before a closing point from substitute Oisín Donoghue officially sealed things.

Match-Up

In stark contrast to Sallins, it’s been drama on top of drama for Tubberclair in 2025 and that could either be their undoing or their strength in this Leinster final. The Westmeath men know who they are and know what to do when the chips are down, but the state of disarray in their fixtures so far may not inspire confidence against the strength and poise of Sallins. Do Sallins outmanoeuvre the wild Westmeath champs or are they dragged into their world of chaos in this Championship decider?

Regardless of stylistic wonders, with intercounty players like Matthew Whittaker and Eoghan McCabe leading them, Tubberclair have got huge quality in key areas. Add to that a strong young core of 2025 All-Ireland ‘B’ winners with their county in Taylor Slevin, Kealan Connell, Finn Duffy and Daire O’Connor and you have got a fine side.

This is a styles make fights matchup and should make for an enthralling Leinster final. The Kildare men have been imperious so far and this writer is backing them to climb the mountain against a swashbuckling and dangerous but perhaps vulnerable opponent. This titanic fixture throws in at 1:30pm in Cedral St Conleth’s Park on Sunday, December 14.

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