Two out of two for Dublin

Dublin made it two wins out of two in the Bord na Mona O’Byrne Cup tonight as they saw off the challenge of DCU at Parnell Park.

Jim Gavin’s charges ran out 3-16 to 1-11 winners as Denis Bastick netted in the first half, and Diarmuid Connolly (penalty) and Kevin McManamon also raised green flags.

The Dubs opened well and had the students on the rack with debutant Paul Hudson among the early scorers, helping them move 0-6 to 0-1 ahead.

Hudson landed three of those points with Connolly, Paddy Andrews and Bernard Brogan also splitting the posts.

Inspired by Longford’s Michael Quinn, who roamed forward from centre back, DCU chipped away at that deficit.

Ballymum Kickhams star Dean Rock pointed a 23rd minute penalty when a goal would have put the students in front. This free-flowing game had been promising goals and they duly came before the break.

Bastick struck first in the 34th minute and then the advancing Quinn forced home DCU’s only major on the stroke of half-time, after Shane Supple had saved his initial shot.

That left DCU just 1-7 to 1-5 behind but the sending-off of corner back William Lowry severely hampered their chances in the second half.

Dublin regular and two-time All-Star Paul Flynn was introduced by DCU on the resumption and he landed a point from play to make it a one-point game.

But Connolly’s penalty for a foul on Brogan, and a pointed free from the latter, steadied the Leinster champions at 2-9 to 1-6.

Rock showed well during a productive period for DCU, stringing together three points on the way to a final tally of 0-6 (0-2f, 0-1pen).

Donie Smith also pointed to shave the margin down to two points again. However, Lowry, a former Dublin Under-21 player, then walked for his second bookable offence and the Dubs duly closed out the victory.

McManamon was set up by Jack McCaffrey for an injury-time goal, while goalkeeper Supple impressed at the other end as he foiled a series of late goal chances for the students.

In Group A, Longford bounced back from losing to Meath last Sunday as they got the better of UCD in Killoe.

Offaly remain unbeaten in Group B following their 3-11 to 1-9 dismissal of Athlone IT at Gracefield tonight.

New manager Emmett McDonnell will not have been best pleased with the Faithfuls’ first half display as they were just 0-6 to 0-5 to the good at half-time.

But goals from Peter Cunningham, Brian Connor and Eoin Carroll, two of which were scored in a key three-minute spell, inspired their second win of the group stages. Captain Niall McNamee finished with 0-6.

Laois registered their first victory in the early season competition as full-forward Padraig Clancy starred in a 2-12 to 0-12 defeat of Westmeath in Portlaoise.

The towering Timahoe clubman finished with 2-3, with one of his goals coming from a soccer-style volley, as the hosts took the spoils in a competitive Group C encounter.

Carlow recorded their first triumph under new boss Anthony Rainbow as they overcame Wicklow by 0-12 to 0-9 in Bray.

The Barrowsiders prevailed in their second Group B fixture despite having two players dismissed, including influential midfielder Darragh Foley.

In Group D, there were victories for Carlow IT and Kieran McGeeney’s Kildare side. The students stunned a young Wexford outfit, squeezing home by two points (0-12 to 0-10) in Bunclody.

The Lilywhites kept on course for the semi-finals despite having Gary White sent-off late on for his second bookable offence.

They outlasted a dogged DIT outfit by 0-12 to 0-8 in Athy. They were four points ahead at the interval with Mikey Conway (0-3) and Cathal McNally (0-2) leading the scoring.

Mayo’s Aidan O’Shea and Mark Collins of Cork drove DIT on from midfield, but they lost the services of Collins for two yellow cards.

Meath’s Bryan Menton impressed at full-back for the students, while Johnny McGrath from Wicklow threatened often from wing forward.

However, McGeeney’s charges were able to wrap up the result in foggy conditions. They host Wexford in their final group match at Newbridge on Sunday afternoon.

TONIGHT'S BORD NA MONA O'BYRNE CUP RESULTS:

GROUP A –

Meath v Louth, Pairc Tailteann (Match postponed to heavy fog; rescheduled for Thursday night)

Longford 1-14 UCD 0-14, Killoe

GROUP B –

Dublin 3-16 DCU 1-11, Parnell Park

Wicklow 0-9 Carlow 0-12, Bray

GROUP C –

Laois 2-12 Westmeath 0-12, Portlaoise

Offaly 3-11 Athlone IT 1-9, Gracefield

GROUP D –

Wexford 0-10 Carlow IT 0-12, Bunclody

Kildare 0-12 DIT 0-8, Athy