PREVIEW: Can Allenwood beat Kilcock to avoid the SFC drop again?

It is time for the dreaded decider in the Joe Mallon Motors SFC and the final nobody wants to be in has a returning guest in the form of Allenwood. They face Kilcock at 6pm on Saturday, October 31 in Manguard Park, Hawkfield to decide who replaces Milltown in the Intermediate ranks.

Allenwood survived in 2025 with their sole win of the entire season when Johnny Doyle managed yet another iconic contribution to help them past Confey in last year’s relegation final.

With the game level at 0-10 a piece headed into the final quarter, the then 47 year-old kicked a stunning two-pointer before finding the net in the 52nd minute and helped his club to their only win of 2025 in by far their most important game.

This year has been nowhere near that scale of disaster for Allenwood however with nine wins amassed in Division 2, although they are yet to win in championship action.

Kilcock meanwhile are a team who have impressed in flashes against senior opposition but have nonetheless slid their way into this spot following several narrow losses throughout their campaign.

In reverse chronology, a three-point loss to Caragh, a two-point defeat to Eadestown and a margin of three again against Sallins could see this competitive Kilcock outfit in the IFC next year if they are to suffer yet another near-miss to an Allenwood team known for pulling it out of the fire.

Allenwood and Kilcock both finished bottom of difficult SFC groups but Kilcock managed to get two points beside their name after beating Raheens in Round 2. Those previously highlighted narrow margins could not be applied to Allenwood’s group stages where they were no closer than seven points (against Clane) come full-time in any of their Group A encounters.

Allenwood were five adrift of common opponent Sallins in the ‘A’ quarter-finals before being dispatched 2-13 to 0-9 by Carbury in their relegation semi-final.

Just like Maynooth and Sarsfields and their places at the top, this pair have earned their place in the drop decider with Kilcock seemingly best placed to stay in the SFC based on their showings in the last couple of years.

The likes of Finn Dowling, Danny Maguire, Shane O'Rourke and the Gibbons boys (Brendan and Mark) have shown signs of mixing with the best at points this season but Kilcock have fallen short as a consistent collective.

In the positive column for Allenwood, the 2023 Leinster IFC champions beat Kilcock in their first game back at Senior championship level with an Eoin Bagnall goal proving the difference between the sides in a 1-10 to 0-12 win.

That Preliminary Round victory secured Allenwood’s safety for 2024 under the old Kildare championship format and Bagnall, who managed seven of Allenwood’s nine points against Carbury last time out, might be needed for talismanic heroics if his side are to earn another season in the SFC.

The romantic heart bleeds to pick against Allenwood, one of the stories of Kildare championship football in recent years, who turned an unlikely Kildare IFC win into Leinster glory and furthered it with the aforementioned survival heroics from their county icon.

However, Kilcock are a team of strength in a few key areas and should have enough to retain their SFC status and build again for next year.

PREDICTION: Kilcock