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NA FIANNA 3-32
CRAOBH CHIARÁIN 1-8
Na Fianna completed their fourth successive victory in Group 1 of the Go-Ahead Ireland Dublin Senior 1 Hurling Championship as they defeated Craobh Chiaráin by thirty points at Parnell Park on Friday night.
The All-Ireland champions controlled large swathes of the first-half with goals by Shane Barrett and AJ Murphy prompting a 2-14 to 1-5 advantage at the interval.
Barrett added his second goal within three minutes of the restart and a plethora of points at the three-quarter mark preceded an uneventful conclusion to matters.
The holders continued their process of squad rotation with the likes of Donal Burke, Brian Ryan and AJ Murphy restored to their starting line-up and they took little time in settling as they scored early points through Liam Stacey and Darragh Meagher.
A goal arrived soon after through Shane Barrett as the floodgates threatened to open and a second Meagher point pushed Na Fianna six-points clear by the 4th minute.
A Billy Ryan point helped settle the locals and they gained further momentum to their challenge in the 7th minute as Robert Burnett burst through before kicking past Jonathan Tracey from eight yards.
Na Fianna replied through scores from Sean Currie and AJ Murphy but Craobh kept their deficit at three points as they replied via Matthew Forbes and Ryan (free).
Brian Ryan, Currie and Meagher helped the holders enhance their lead by the end of the first quarter and they put further daylight between the teams as Barrett turned provider for Murphy, who hammered high past James Ryan into the roof of the net.
The expected procession towards the Craobh goal continued as Currie added three further frees by the end of the half with Joe Kavanagh and Donal Burke also on target as they pushed twelve points clear by the turnaround.
The second-half resumed in a similar vein of Na Fianna pressure and after Kavanagh and Currie (free) had added to their tally, Barrett caught a dropping Donal Burke effort and crashed home from six yards in the 34th minute.
Aaron Cooling offered some crumbs of comfort to Chiaráin’s with a brace of points in the third quarter but they proved isolated pockets of encouragement as normal services was resumed with Meagher, Tom Brennan and Currie (free) all on target.
Scores were coming far too freely from a competitive aspect as Na Fianna clicked through the gears in ominous fashion and while the Craobh effort never wavered, they were powerless in falling further behind as the contest evolved.
Scorers – Na Fianna: S Currie 0-12 (9f, 2 ’65); D Meagher 0-6, AJ Murphy 1-3; S Barrett 2-0; D Burke, J Kavanagh, T Brennan 0-2 each; K Burke, L Stacey, B Ryan, S Baxter, C McCarthy 0-1 apiece. Craobh Chiaráin: B Ryan 0-4 (2f); R Burnett 1-1; A Cooling 0-2, M Forbes 0-1.
Na Fianna: J Tracey; W Wheatley, D Clerkin, K Burke; G Spollen, D Ryan, L Stacey; B Ryan, S Currie; J Kavanagh, D Burke, D Meagher; S Barrett, AJ Murphy, T Brennan. Subs: P Feeney for B Ryan (41), S Baxter for Spollen (41), C McCarthy for Kavanagh (47), T Gleeson for Brennan (53).
Craobh Chiaráin: J Ryan; G Warren, E Forbes, E Farrell; G Kelly, K Hetherton, S O’Brien; M Forbes, S Brennan; S McHugh, R Burnett, B Ryan; A Cooling, D Kelly, J Murray. Subs: N Kane for Brennan (48), A Doherty for Warren (51), C Sammon for Cooling (53), S McCormack for D Kelly (53).
Referee: Rory Hanley (St Brigid’s).