Burke shines bright to shake Dubs out of slumber in win over Westmeath

Burke, who struck 1-9, hit the all-important first goal which hauled hosts back and they finished with a strong second-half performance

STARE DOWN: Dublin's Donal Burke with Jack Galvin of Westmeath. Pic: INPHO/Evan Treacy

Leinster SHC, Round 2: Dublin 2-23 Westmeath 1-14 

A belated Leinster SHC win for Dublin who, a week after pinching a draw in Antrim, had to overcome an early speed wobble at Parnell Park to finally secure a victory.

Dublin were naturally chasing a big performance after those Round 1 difficulties but conceded an early goal to Westmeath's Niall Mitchell and didn't take the lead until close to half-time.

Donal Burke, who struck 1-9 for Dublin, hit the all-important first goal for the hosts which hauled them back and they finished off Westmeath with a strong second-half performance.

Cian Boland's 52nd-minute goal moved the 2013 Leinster champions eight points clear at that stage and they finished with a dozen to spare as 10 different scorers got on the mark.

Dublin will return to action at nearby Croke Park next Saturday for a Round 3 encounter with Wexford while Westmeath will host Galway in Mullingar the same day.

Westmeath manager Joe Fortune, the former Dublin U-21 boss, responded to last weekend's 22-point defeat to Kilkenny by changing almost a third of his Westmeath team for the trip to the capital.

Half-back Jack Galvin, midfielder Gary Greville and attackers Charlie McCormack and Mitchell all came into the lineup. Dublin, meanwhile, made just a single change with Ronan Hayes starting his first game of the year up front.

Hayes, sidelined for several weeks after a hamstring injury early in the National League, came on for Alex Considine last weekend in Belfast and retained his position from the start here.

It was Westmeath that appeared to get the mix right initially, striding four points clear thanks to Mitchell's second-minute goal.

The Clonkill man plucked the ball from a ruck of bodies close to the Dublin goal and fired a snapshot past Sean Brennan.

Ciaran Doyle then sniped a stunning point for Westmeath when, with his back to goal, he somehow contorted his wrists to send the ball between the posts.

Doyle was unerring on the frees for Westmeath too and with 16 minutes on the clock, the 2021 Joe McDonagh Cup winners deservedly led by 1-6 to 0-5.

It wasn't until the rain began to fall down heavily on the north Dublin venue that the hosts eventually woke up and got going.

In the following 20 minutes or so before half-time, they outscored Westmeath by eight points to take a 1-11 to 1-7 lead at the interval.

Both Burkes, free-taker Donal and Conor, contributed to the scoring though it was Donal's 35th minute goal that really made an impact.

Cian O'Sullivan arrowed a pass across from the left corner and Burke did brilliantly to firstly control the ball before planting it in the net.

Westmeath, to their credit, came again with a mini-burst of scoring in the third quarter and reduced the deficit to three points after 46 minutes.

That was as good as it got for the Lake County, however, as Dublin finally struck the scores to put the game beyond doubt.

Donal Burke and Daire Gray registered three points in a row before Boland grabbed his 52nd minute goal to finally allow the home supporters to breathe out.

It was a classy goal too from Boland who capitalised on his searing pace to find space down the left before releasing a sidewinder to the roof of Noel Conaty's net.

Dublin then took their lead into double digits with five points in a row from Considine, Boland and Burke between the 56th and 75th minutes as the game petered out towards an inevitable conclusion.

Dublin scorers: D Burke (1-9, 5 frees); C Boland (1-2); P Crummey, C Burke, D Sutcliffe, A Considine (0-2); M Grogan, C O'Leary, C Donohoe, D Gray (0-1).

Westmeath scorers: C Doyle (0-9, 5 frees); N Mitchell (1-0); E Keyes (0-2); K Regan, D Glennon, J Bermingham (0-1).

Dublin: S Brennan; P Doyle, E O'Donnell, P Smyth; C Donohoe, C Burke, D Gray; M Grogan, C O'Leary; C Boland, D Burke, D Sutcliffe; C O'Sullivan, P Crummey, R Hayes.

Subs: A Considine for Hayes, S Currie for Crummey (50); D Power for Grogan (63); J Bellew for O'Donnell (64); F Whitely for Sutcliffe (65).

Westmeath: N Conaty; T Doyle, C Shaw, D Egerton; J Bermingham, J Galvin, A Craig; R Greville, G Greville; C McCormack, D Glennon, J Boyle; C Doyle, N Mitchell, K Regan.

Subs: N O'Brien for G Greville (h/t); E Keyes for Boyle (43); D McNicholas for Regan (53); C Boyle for J Galvin (61); D Clinton for Mitchell (65).

Ref: S Hynes (Galway).