Allianz Hurling League Division 1

DUBLIN 0-20 Carlow 0-9

By Conor McKenna at Netwatch Cullen Park

A strong second-half performance from Dublin saw them defeat Carlow in Netwatch Cullen Park to pick up their second victory of the Allianz Hurling League.

The conditions were far from ideal for hurling, as the game got the clearance to go ahead following two pitch inspections.

Carlow trailed by two points at half time and were set to play with the wind in the second half, but Dublin completely dominated the second half.

Dublin squandered numerous goal-chances as well, which may be of frustration to Mattie Kenny when he looks back on the game.

Rian McBride’s second minute point opened the scoring to give Dublin an early lead, before Martin Kavanagh’s free levelled the game.

John Michael Nolan then registered a point to put Carlow in front, but it was quickly cancelled out by McBride’s second point of the day.

Martin Kavanagh and Sean Moran exchanged points, before scores from McBride and Oisin O’Rorke pushed Dublin ahead.

Martin Kavanagh and O’Rorke traded points before the interval, as Dublin went into half time with a 0-6 to 0-4 lead.

Dublin started the second half superbly, as scores from David Keogh, Daire Gray and Chris Crummey gave Kenny’s charges a five-point cushion and undid a lot of Carlow’s good first-half work.

Martin Kavanagh responded with Carlow’s first point of the half, but that was as good as it got for the hosts, as Dublin scored five points in succession to seal the win.

Dublin cruised to an 11 point victory and can look forward to hosting Wexford next Saturday, while Carlow’s next game is away to Laois.

Scorers for Carlow: Martin Kavanagh 0-6 (4f), John Michael Nolan 0-2, David English 0-1 (1f)
Scorers for Dublin: Paul Ryan 0-5 (3f, 1 “65”), Rian McBride 0-4, Oisin O’Rorke 0-3 (3f), Sean Moran 0-2 (1f), David Keogh 0-2, Daire Gray 0-2, Chris Crummey 0-2.

Carlow: Damien Jordan; Ross Smithers, Paul Doyle, Michael Doyle; Richard Coady, David English, Gary Bennett; Jack Kavanagh, Aaron Amond; John Michael Nolan, Martin Kavanagh, Kevin McDonald; Ted Joyce, Paul Coady, Cathal Tracey. Subs: Sean Whelan for Richard Coady (17), Ciaran Abbey for Damien Jordan (47), Dean Tobin for Ross Smithers (60), Dara Tobin for Paul Coady (62), Tadhg Daly for Aaron Amond (70 + 1)

Dublin: Alan Nolan; Paddy Smyth, Eoghan O’Donnell, James Madden; Chris Crummey, Daire Gray, Sean Moran; Jake Malone, Rian McBride; John Hetherton, Donal Burke, Mark Schutte; Oisin O’Rorke, Ronan Hayes, Shane Barrett. Subs: David Keogh for Mark Schutte (h-t), Cian O’Callaghan for Shane Barrett (h-t), Paul Ryan for Oisin O’Rorke (51), Fiontan McGibb for Donal Burke (68), Andrew Dunphy for James Madden (69)

Referee: Thomas Walsh (Waterford)