Signal of intent from Kilmacud Crokes in Dublin championship

Kilmacud Crokes ease past 'Boden, Con O'Callaghan shines for Cuala

Coalán Conway of Kilmacud Crokes in action against Niall Ryan, left, and Paddy Dunleavy of Ballyboden St Enda's 

Dublin SHC 

Kilmacud Crokes served an early warning to all the main contenders as they eased past Ballyboden St Enda’s by 4-18 to 0-16 in their Dublin Senior ‘A’ Hurling Championship Group 2 match at Parnell Park on Sunday afternoon.

In what was a repeat of the 2018 decider between these southside rivals, Crokes assumed control early on and while Boden kept in touch through scores from Aidan Mellett and Paul Ryan, their challenge wilted as the contest evolved.

A Ronan Hayes penalty following a foul on Marc Howard helped hand Kilmacud a 1-10 to 0-8 interval lead and two excellent Sean McGrath points helped increase their buffer upon the restart.

Alex Considine effectively settled the issue with a rising shot in the 36th minute and Howard made sure five minutes later with a low finish past the helpless Finn McGarry.

Oisin O’Rorke was dismissed in the immediate aftermath of that score but that failed to prevent Crokes finishing on the front foot as Hayes added a fourth goal in injury time.

Meanwhile on Saturday evening, Con O’Callaghan fired 1-4 from play as holders Cuala got their campaign up and running with a hard-earned 1-22 to 0-15 win over debutants Thomas Davis in Bray.

A more comfortable success was predicted in advance but the visitors equipped themselves well over the hour with Sean Reilly to the fore as they trailed by four points at the break.

However, some poor shot selection undermined their challenge upon the restart and the champions took advantage with Liam Murphy landing seven second-half frees to complete the ten-point win.

In Group 1, St Vincent’s and Lucan Sarsfields registered home wins over St Oliver Plunkett’s/Eoghan Ruadh and Ballinteer St John’s respectively.

Johnny Walsh and Cian McBride netted first-half goals for St Vincent’s, who prevailed by 2-21 to 1-16 at Páirc Naomh Uinsionn with John Hetherton’s ten points and five points from play by Rian McBride proving key on the night.

At the 12th Lock, Lucan were generally in control as they defeated St John’s by 2-18 to 1-14 with their goals coming in either half from Matthew Dunne and Chris Crummey.

Last year’s beaten finalists St Brigid’s delivered an exceptional defensive display as they eased past Whitehall Colmcille by 1-17 to 0-6 at Russell Park with the visitors failing to register one score from play over the hour.

Eoghan Dunne scored 1-2 for the hosts, who were in cruise control thanks to the scoring contributions of Paul Winters, Cathal Doyle, Cian O’Sullivan and Conor O’Brien.