PREDICTION: Sallins to finally take the next step in glamour Kildare IFC Semi-final with Milltown

This weekend's Kildare IFC action gets under way with Milltown v Sallins on Friday, October 3 in a potentially incredibly exciting encounter. Milltown are yet to be in a boring match in this year’s Championship and their blend of swashbuckling attacking often comes at the expense of conceding a decent amount of scores too.

Championship favourites Sallins eventually pulled clear of Suncroft after a surprisingly tight first half in which Sallins showed some of the knockout football nerves that have put them out in previous seasons. They did however kick on and leave with a comprehensive 2-19 to 0-9 win but such a lacklustre opening will likely see them suffer a lot more against a better team and a more potent attack like the one in which Milltown possess.

Milltown, despite a win by the narrowest of margins, also had to produce a second half surge to progress past Leixlip. However, instead of pulling clear in a tight game like Sallins, Milltown had to mount a huge comeback after trailing by nine points seven minutes into the second half of proceedings.

Late goals from Paddy Donoghue and Ronan O’Shea set up the dramatic finale where a breach of the 3v3 rule dictated things with Alan Dignam popping over after infringement. Leixlip were incensed at the decision while Milltown got their revenge after getting one over on the opponents that sent them out in the Semi-Final stage in 2024.

The quality of these two sides being much closer may in fact suit Sallins, with their forecasted win over surprise Quarter-Finalists Suncroft being tricky to navigate with the weight of expectation on their shoulders. That feeling won’t have subsided just yet with most still assessing that they are the team to beat in this year’s IFC, but Milltown present the toughest challenge that the favourites have faced yet.

Sallins’ James Dalton remains the top-scorer from play in this year’s Championship with 5-19 to his name, with green flags doing the heavy lifting in a mightily impressive tally. Colm Dalton and Cian Grimes have amassed considerable scores too and the variety of Sallins’ options in attack has yet to be contained in this Championship so far. They are putting an average of 25 points on the board across their four games.

However, Sallins’ defensive output deserves huge credit too with their softer section seemingly having hardened up in the last couple of years. Sallins are yet to concede more than 0-10 in a Championship game proper this year and have not yet conceded a goal, with their lowest scoring tally being a still fairly positive 0-20 against Round Towers. It is the simplest recipe for success you can think of, scoring plenty and giving up very little.

Milltown on the other hand have conceded 18 points on average across their four games so far, but are well able to put an impressive tally on the board too. They are an unpredictable and dangerous force for any team and exactly the sort of nightmare task for any fancied side.

Despite the obvious dangers, Sallins will likely have too much for the 2023 Leinster Junior Champions. Both have a brilliant variety of scoring options with Paddy Donohue, Ben Curran and Alan Dignam all well able to contribute from the front for Milltown. The difference from this game may come at the back and defensive differential highlighted above.

Sallins’ glamorous attacking this year has been propped up by sharp organisation and a command of possession. In the face of their toughest challenge in the final four, this writer is picking them to pass a stiff Milltown test.

Prediction: Sallins

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