DEJA BLUE AS DUBS FIND A WAY LATE ON

Carlow 0-22 Dublin 1-24 Leinster SHC round two

DUBLIN came with another strong finish in Carlow last night, rallying from six points down to overcome a game home side.

Carlow were sensational in the opening half and they hit five of the first six points of the game. All six of their starting forwards scored from play in the opening half, while at the back, Dion Wall, Paul Doyle and Jack Kavanagh suffocated the Dubs. Danny Sutcliffe tried to carry the fight to Carlow, picking off two good first half points and winning two more debatable frees.

Eoghan O’donnell worked hard and made a lot of yards but like a lot of his colleagues, he struggled to make an impact on the scoreboard.

With the crowd gathering hope, Carlow led by 0-13 to 0-9 at half time, with Dublin facing into a low sun and a light breeze after the interval.

Crucially, the Dubs didn’t let the panic levels get too high, and with Conor Burke coming into the game and points from deep from Paddy Smyth and Daire Gray keeping things ticking over, Dublin took control.

After going two up, a stunning diving save from Seán Brennan to deny Conor Kehoe denied Carlow the side door back into the game that they needed.

Dublin also got much more from their bench, particularly Fergal Whitely (above), and when the Kilmacud Crokes man hoisted up a shot for a point from 55 metres out but saw it dip into the top corner of the net at the last moment with just over 10 minutes to play, they had done enough to prevail.

Still not exactly hurling with a flourish, but when they compare their result to Wexford’s defeat in Belfast, it’ll feel like a solid day’s work. CARLOW: C Abbey; N Bolger, P Doyle, D Wall; J Kavanagh, K Mcdonald, T Lawlor; F Fitzpatrick (0-1), J Mccullagh; C Kehoe (0-2), M Kavanagh (0-13, 0-9f, 0-2 65s), J Nolan (0-3); C Whelan (0-1), C Nolan (0-1), P Boland (0-1). SUBS: JM Nolan for Whelan (48), R Coady for J Kavanagh (60), S Treacy for C Nolan (66), J O’toole for Fitzpatrick (66). DUBLIN: S Brennan; P Smyth, J Bellew, P Doyle (0-1); C Crummey (0-1), C Donohoe, D Gray (0-2); M Grogan, C Burke (0-3); C O’sullivan (0-1), E O’donnell (0-2), S Currie (0-1); D Sutcliffe (0-2), D Burke (0-9, 0-8f), R Hayes. SUBS: D Power for Grogan (half-time), F Whitely (1-1) for Hayes (43), P Crummey for Currie (58), D Purcell (0-1) for Sutcliffe (64), J Madden for C Burke (64). REF: Caymon Flynn (Westmeath).