A general view of Páirc Tailteann. Photo by Tyler Miller/Sportsfile
Electric Ireland Leinster MFC
Group 1, Round 1
Dublin 5-10 Offaly 3-7
Louth 1-15 Laois 0-12
Group 2, Round 1
Kildare 2-8 Longford 0-14
Meath 4-10 Westmeath 0-10
By Paul Keane
With just a couple of minutes gone in their Electric Ireland Leinster MFC opener in Tullamore, having already conceded two goals, Dublin must have been mightily concerned.
It all ended okay from Dublin's perspective with a remarkable revival in the form of five first-half goals all but sealing their win by half-time.
Mubarak Salami from the St Maurs club struck two of those goals and finished with 2-2 while Cillian McCabe, Caolinn O'Connell and Finn McGinnis added the other three-pointers.
But it was a curious path to victory all the same for Damien Fennelly's side who were hit hard and early by hosts Offaly in their Group 1 encounter.
The clock hadn't even ticked into the third minute and already Dylan Dunne and Ruairi Woods had hit the net for Offaly, moving them 2-0 to no score clear.
Salami stopped the rot with a Dublin point but Woods hit back immediately with an Offaly point to suggest a long afternoon for the young blues who trailed 0-1 to 2-1. On the same ground that Dublin lost last year's provincial final to Longford, it was a worrying start.
As it turned out, Dublin were just getting going and a dramatic blitz of scoring - the Metropolitans reeled off 5-4 without response between the 10th and 27th minutes - turned that early six-point deficit into a 12-point half-time lead.
O'Connell got Dublin up and running with their first goal from a penalty in the 10th minute. Salami struck his opening goal shortly after and McCabe then rattled the net, amounting to three goals inside four minutes.
McGinnis, the latest big talent to emerge from Skerries Harps, was next to raise a green flag in the 21st minute and Salami's second came three minutes later as Dublin released all of their potential in a furious siege of scoring.
It all left Dublin sitting pretty with a 5-6 to 2-3 half-time lead though Offaly to their credit refused to lie down.
Woods, Isaac Ryan and captain Cian McNamee registered the first three points of the second-half as Offaly built a head of steam again.
Eamon Maher slotted a third goal for the Faithful too in the 48th minute but they'd simply left themselves with too much to do.
Dublin only added on four second-half points themselves, from McGinnis, free-taker Jamie Heavey, Ciaran Clifford and McCabe, but it was more than enough to keep them well in front.
In the other Group 1 game, Cian Rooney's early goal put Louth on the road to their impressive win over Laois.
Louth led by 1-10 to 0-5 at half-time, thanks also to 0-5 from the excellent Connell Kelly, and they remained at least five points clear throughout the second-half.
In Group 2, provincial title holders Longford need to reel off the last four points of the game, including a stoppage time leveller from Troy Tiernan, to draw with Kildare.
Longford started the game with similar gusto, hitting the first five points on their home soil, though Kildare goals from Rory Thompson and Hugh Martin, took the wind from their sails and left them requiring that late comeback.
Meath were the big winners on the day, building on their 1-9 to 0-2 half-time lead in Navan with three second-half goals from Nathan Reilly and Dunsany's Robbie Johnson, 2.
