NHL Division One B/ Dublin 0-22 Limerick 1-15: Oh wow! It's hard to say what was more impressive about Dublin's latest victory in the Allianz National Hurling League - the way they wore down and conquered Limerick over the 70 minutes, or the way they walked off afterwards without the slightest hint of celebration. Times are changing in Dublin hurling, that's for sure.
Another win over Antrim on Wednesday night will see Dublin top the group as the only unbeaten team in Division One B - across both divisions actually - and no matter what happens after that they're into the play-offs. Perhaps the most surprising thing about all this is how no team in the country will fancy playing them any time soon.
Needless to say, no one at the Gaelic Grounds yesterday could remember the last time Dublin had triumphed here, nor put themselves in such a good position to make the play-offs. But this was no fluke. Dublin earned the four-point win just like they deserved to beat Galway last week, with superb effort and consistency throughout the field. From half backs Ronan Fallon and Derek O'Reilly to forwards Kevin O'Reilly and John Kelly there was no shortage of inspirational leaders, and that's something Dublin hurling hasn't enjoyed in a long time.
Kevin O'Reilly ended with 0-7, his accuracy from the placed-ball, including sidelines, quite remarkable - especially given he was a late replacement for the injured David Curtin. Liam Ryan also had to cry off in the other wing-forward position with a hamstring strain, and with John McCaffrey also sidelined with a groin strain, this was actually Dublin slightly under strength.
It never appeared that way, and with the exception of Tommy Moore - who didn't do anything wrong - everyone from number seven to 15 made the score sheet, along with substitute Stuart Mullen. That consistency of scoring is what earned the win, with the sides level five times during the first half, before Dublin eased their noses in front in the second half - and kept them there.
"Sure, 22 points is good scoring," said manager Tommy Naughton, still without any hint of overstatement. "And I thought we played very well. If you got that score every day you'd be happy. But then Limerick had an awful lot of goal chances and we rode our luck a little again.
"But you have to play like that every day if you're in Division One and, thanks be to God, we did that today. We have to play the same way against Antrim, but we are showing good consistency, that's the very pleasing thing, that we're starting to play like a Division One team."
Limerick did have their goal chances but Dublin never once panicked, and when they went four points clear with just under 10 minutes remaining they always looked like winners.
"The players that came in did very well," added Naughton. "I was very pleased with them. The free-taking by Kevin O'Reilly was very good. They kept composed and that's the good thing. It's great for the confidence. We've had enough defeats and we know what losing is like. It's great to be winning, we're delighted."
Limerick realised early on that they had a game on their hands, and despite racing into a two-point lead they spent most of the game playing catch up. Dublin went 0-6 to 0-3 in front when Padraig O'Driscoll hit two excellent points from play, and Dublin fully deserved their half-time advantage of 0-13 to 1-8.
Limerick manager Richie Bennis wasn't slow in making changes but nothing could stem Dublin's rising confidence. Pat Tobin hit two from play for the home side in the second half, but crucially they never got to within less than two points, and in the end Bennis admitted he wasn't surprised that Dublin won.
"I wasn't. And I said it last year. Dublin were a very good team that we met here, we were very lucky to beat them last year. Very lucky. They proved me right, and Brian Cody said the same thing about them. They've a lovely hurling team. They're a serious team. The other thing is they're very fit for this time of the year.
"We had about a half a dozen goal chances we didn't take. Good chances. And that's the difference. They took all their point chances. Our first touch also let us down on a good day for hurling. We'll have to work on it if we want to revive our year. Our training is geared towards the championship to be honest. But that said, we shouldn't be in this position."
Going into the last five minutes Dublin were up by two, and Limerick were chasing hard for a winning goal. In the past they might well have got it, but instead Kelly slipped over a sweet score, followed - fittingly - by a last free from O'Reilly. Dublin oozed confidence in those closing minutes and if this keeps up it won't be long before a lot more teams are forced to believe in the hype.
DUBLIN: G Maguire; P Brennan, S Hiney, T Brady; M Carton, R Fallon, D O'Reilly (0-1); J Boland (0-2), G O'Meara (0-1); T Moore, D Qualter (0-1), K Flynn (0-3); J Kelly (0-4), P O'Driscoll (0-2), K O'Reilly (0-7, four frees, two sidelines, one 65). Subs: S Mullen (0-1)for Moore (55 mins), P Carton for Qualter (66 mins).
LIMERICK: B Murray; D Reale, S Lucey, S Hickey; P O'Dwyer, B Geary, Maurice O'Brien; D O'Grady (0-1), Mike O'Brien (0-2); N Moran, O Moran (0-3), A O'Shaughnessy (0-4, all frees); D Ryan (0-1), S O'Connor (1-0), B Foley (0-1). Subs: P Tobin (0-2)for Ryan (half time), M Fitzgerald (0-1)for N Moran (45 mins), P Lawlor for Maurice O'Brien (46 mins), B Begley for Foley (55 mins).
Referee: C Mac Allister(Cork).
