Senior Hurlers Beat Antrim In Belfast To Make It Three Wins From Three

DUBLIN 3-25

ANTRIM 0-19

Dublin completed their third successive victory in the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship when getting the better of Antrim by fifteen points at Corrigan Park on Saturday afternoon.

It was the visitors that controlled large parts of the opening half with goals by Cian O’Sullivan and Ronan Hayes leaving them well placed with a 2-13 to 0-7 interval advantage.

The victory was never in doubt despite an improved showing from the hosts in the second half with substitute Fergal Whitely adding a third Dublin goal in the 63rd minute to put the seal on an impressive showing.

With the strong breeze at their backs, it was Dublin that opened the scoring through centre-back Chris Crummey in the 2nd minute with his Antrim counterpart Conor Boyd levelling matters within fifteen seconds.

Points from Sean Currie (free) and John Hetherton edged the visitors back in front and while James McNaughton replied with a free through James McNaughton, a ‘65’ from Currie restored Dublin’s two-point lead by the 7th minute.

That lead was doubled in an instant through O’Sullivan and Currie (free) and the latter put further distance between the sides as he popped over two excellent points from play to leave five points between the teams by the 11th minute.

A scoreless period of five minutes followed but that mini barren period was ended in an emphatic manner as O’Sullivan raced clear down the left flank and his low finish proved too much for Ryan Elliott in the Antrim goal.

Dublin were raising their second green flag in the 21st minute from a similar avenue as they exposed a weakness down Antrim’s right-hand side with Ronan Hayes producing a clinical finish past the exposed Elliott.

Their lead could and should have increased as the half evolved as the Dubs were guilty of some errant shooting, allowing their opponents to play their way back into the game through a brace of McNaughton frees and a Ryan McCambridge score.

However, Dublin’s dominance continued towards the end of the half with Paddy Doyle, Currie and O’Sullivan all on target as they entered the break leading by twelve points.

The hosts wasted little time in reducing their deficit as the second-half commenced with McNaughton firing over three points in quick succession to leave their arrears at a more manageable nine points.

Crucially, Dublin stalled any hopes of an Antrim revival as they began to regain their authority through points by Brian Hayes, O’Sullivan and another Currie free.

With the hosts almost completely dependent on the placed balls of McNaughton for scores, Dublin continued to pick off their scores with Conor McHugh scoring his first ever point in senior provincial hurling in the 46th minute.

Crummey added a brace of second-half points to highlight his influence on proceedings with Whitely showing an impeccable first touch and equally measured finish to crash home against a wilting Antrim defence.

The contest petered out from that point, especially with McNaughton dismissed for a frustrated kick at McHugh, while Currie took his personal tally to twelve points by the final whistle as Dublin’s attention turned immediately to their Round 4 clash with Kilkenny in Nowlan Park next Sunday afternoon.      

Scorers – Dublin: S Currie 0-12 (7f, 2 ’65); C O’Sullivan 1-3; F Whitely 1-1; C Crummey 0-3; R Hayes 1-0; J Hetherton, P Doyle, B Hayes, C McHugh, C Burke, C Currie 0-1 apiece. Antrim: J McNaughton 0-10 (8f, 1 ’65); J McLaughlin (1f), R McCambridge 0-2 each; C Boyd, G Walsh (f), C McKeown, E Campbell, N Elliott 0-1 apiece.

Dublin: E Gibbons; J Bellew, P Smyth, C McHugh; A Dunphy, C Crummey, P Doyle; C Burke, C Donohoe; B Hayes, C O’Sullivan, D Power; S Currie, J Hetherton, R Hayes. Subs: P Dunleavy for Dunphy (25), D Burke for Hetherton (49), C Currie for C Burke (53), F Whitely for R Hayes (59), AJ Murphy for D Burke (Temp, 61-74), J Madden for Crummey (66).  

Antrim: R Elliott; S Rooney, P Burke, N O’Connor; J Maskey, C Boyd, C Bohill; E Campbell, G Walsh; J McLaughlin, R McCambridge, S Walsh; E O’Neill, J McNaughton, N Elliott. Subs: S McKay for S Walsh (half-time), C McKeown for O’Neill (51), D McCloskey for McCambridge (68).

Referee: Liam Gordon (Galway).