Dublin Senior Hurlers Claim Convincing Victory Over Kildare in All-Ireland Preliminary Quarter-Final

DUBLIN 3-25 

KILDARE 0-13

Goals in the first-quarter from Ronan Hayes and Diarmuid Ó Dúlaing helped Dublin to get the better of Kildare by twenty-one points in their All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship preliminary quarter-final at Cedral St Conleth’s Park, Newbridge on Saturday afternoon. 

Their reward is a last eight clash with Limerick this coming Saturday and they’ll take some encouragement into next weekend given the dominance that they enjoyed for the large part. 

After a relatively even opening, Dublin began to assume control through Hayes’ 10th minute goal while Ó Dúlaing’s effort seven minutes later propelled the visitors to a 2-14 to 0-5 interval advantage.

The second-half was a more even affair but Dublin finished strongly with the influential Fergal Whitely adding a third goal five minutes from time.  

The heavy underfoot conditions mitigated against free-flowing hurling as Dublin opened the scoring through a 2nd minute free from Seán Currie with David Qualter levelling matters for the hosts within two minutes. 

While Jack Sheridan edged the Lilies in front in the 7th minute, Dublin restored parity in an instant through late replacement Ó Dúlaing. 

The visitors started to click up front and from a defensive error, they struck for the game’s opening goal in the 10th minute as Ronan Hayes gathered possession close to goal and calmly slotted home past Paddy McKenna. 

While Qualter replied with a brace of points as the half evolved, Dublin began to control matters through points from Ó Dúlaing and Chris Crummey while further scores by Currie and Cian O’Sullivan left them five point clear towards the end of the first quarter. 

Matters improved for the Dubs in the 17th minute as an excellent team move down the middle culminated in Ó Dúlaing leaving McKenna helpless for the second occasion. 

Kildare’s heads dropped from that juncture as they managed just a Qualter free for the remainder of the half as Dublin built an unassailable tally in the second-quarter. 

Currie clipped over two frees while Rian McBride, O’Sullivan, Ronan Hayes, Ó Dúlaing and Brian Hayes all raised white flags, leaving their side with a commanding fifteen-point lead by half-time. 

Dublin resumed on the front foot with McBride adding two points inside the opening six minutes of the second-half while Brian Hayes showcased his pace down the middle as he clipped over a smart score to extend his side’s lead. 

Cian Boran, so impressive in their Joe McDonagh Cup final win six days previously, replied for the hosts as Dublin lost a degree of accuracy up front with John Hetherton spurning a presentable goal chance, shooting narrowly wide in the 44th minute. 

Kildare added two unanswered scores through placed balls from Qualter but these proved isolated moments of positivity for the hosts with Brian Hayes and Crummey adding to their tallies as we moved into the final quarter. 

A trio of Currie points extended the Dublin lead before Whitely put the finishing touches to an impressive display when netting in the 65th minute.   

Scorers – Dublin: S Currie 0-8 (5f); D Ó Dúlaing 1-4; R Hayes, F Whitely 1-1 each; B Hayes, R McBride 0-3 each; C Crummey, C O’Sullivan 0-2 each; C Burke 0-1. Kildare: D Qualter 0-8 (6f, 1 ’65); G Keegan 0-2; C Boran, J Sheridan, J Travers 0-1 apiece.

Dublin: S Brennan; J Bellew, P Smyth, C McHugh; P Doyle, C Crummey, P Dunleavy; BHayes, F Whitely, S Currie, R Hayes, R McBride; D Ó Dúlaing, J Hetherton, C O’Sullivan. Subs: C Burke for Whitely (Temp 27-28), C Burke for McBride (45), C Ó Riain for O’Sullivan (50), A Dunphy for Dunleavy (51), S Gallagher for B Hayes (59), D Power for RHayes (66).  

Kildare: P McKenna; R Hogan, R Boran, D O’Meara; S Leacy, C Boran, P Dolan; D Guerin, C McCabe; L O’Reilly, G Keegan, D Qualter; D Melville, C Dowling, J Sheridan. Subs: J Travers for McCabe (45), H Carroll for O’Reilly (50), M Curtin for Sheridan (59), K Harrington for Dowling (61), O Lynam for Qualter (67). 

Referee: James Owens (Wexford).