Dillon leads Blues’ cruise past Rebels
EAMON DILLON blasted 2-3 as Dublin stormed to a 10point win over Cork to keep their title hopes alive.
The Dubs were left sickened exactly 12 months ago when they leaked 34 points to Cork in the corresponding fixture at Croke Park. But the Rebels were virtually wiped out by half-time here as they slumped to their third defeat of the campaign.
First-half Dublin goals from man-of-the-match Dillon, Treacy and Seán McGrath did the damage while Dillon added his second in the 48th minute.
The result keeps Dublin firmly in the title shake up after back-to-back wins and comes as a boost in their last home game before trips to Waterford and Kilkenny.
It was a welcome win at Croke Park too having not one a League or Championship tie at headquarters since the 2013 Leinster final. Captain Liam Rushe was an inspiration in defence while David O’Callaghan and Mark Schutte buzzed with intent in attack.
Kieran Kingston made a whopping six changes to his Cork team after losses to Waterford and Galway. Luke O’Farrell was one of the players to come in and he hit two early points.
Cork led 0-4 to 0-2 after six minutes and looked primed for a solid display. But two converted Treacy frees, after fouls on O’Callaghan, seemed to turn the game on its head. Dublin effectively won the game in the next 11 minutes when they scored an incredible 3-6 on the bounce.
Rushe fired over a brilliant point from his own half before the three goals arrived. They came in the space of our minutes with Dillon speeding clear of Stephen McDonnell before rifling past Anthony Nash for the first.
Dillon then turned creator with a wonderful reverse pass to the onrushing Treacy who netted again in the 23rd minute.
And Nash’s misery was complete moments later when McGrath was fed by Schutte for Dublin’s third goal. Cork were shell shocked and hit the interval trailing by 3-12 to 0-9.
The Rebels didn’t score from play in the second half until the 59th minute. AllStar forward Pat Horgan converted three more placed balls to take his tally to seven points for the evening.
But Dublin were never in trouble and kept the scoreboard ticking over.
Shane Barrett and Johnny McCaffrey boomed over a couple of beautiful scores. Dillon wrapped it up with his second and Dublin’s fourth goal in the 48th minute.
It was Dillon’s seventh goal of the 2016 season so far, having blasted 5-12 in the successful Walsh Cup campaign.
Schutte’s clever hand pass picked out Dillon on a trademark run and he felt a familiar feeling as the net rippled.
Séamus Harnedy pulled back two consolation goals for Cork in extra time. Firstly, he followed up on Paudie O’Sullivan’s blocked free to poke home before adding a second when he broke free down the left and fired across Conor Dooley.