Dublin riding high but 'twists and turns' to come warns Donoghue

'TWISTS AND TURNS': Dublin manager Micheál Donoghue. Pic: Leah Scholes, Inpho

Leinster senior hurling championship Round 3: Dublin 3-32 Antrim 1-18 

When Michéal Donoghue managed his Galway team of man mountains to All-Ireland success in 2017, Joe Canning towered above them all up front.

Seven years on, Donal Burke is Donoghue’s Canning figure now in Dublin, a player who can be reliably lent upon for inspiration, game after game.

A back-to-back All-Star nominee, Burke scored 1-11 on Saturday, just his sixth game back after a bad hamstring injury picked up last summer. In those six games, he has amassed 2-44. And he’s playing with a broken nose at the moment, a result of close attention received in the Wexford game.

“Sure he is class,” smiled Donoghue. “He is class personified. A huge plus coming out of this game is his performance, he’s back in the rhythm of it. When he’s in full flow it’s just effortless striking and you could see that today. It was great to have him back on top form.”

Dublin had 13 different scorers in all as they powered to their second win of the campaign. Bar a couple of 10-minute spells either side of half-time, they were entirely dominant and deserved to win by 20 points in the end. They scored three goals — from Paul Crummey, after nine seconds, Brian Hayes and Burke — but could have had four more. Cian O’Sullivan, Sean Currie, Crummey, and Fergal Whitely all had decent chances. There were 11 Dublin wides too so this was about as dominant as they’ve been under Donoghue.

Allied to results elsewhere, Dublin have been catapulted to top spot in Leinster but the really tough stuff is just beginning. They have Kilkenny on Saturday evening, also in Parnell Park, and Galway away in Round 5. Time to really dig in.

“That’s understandable, totally understandable to have that view of it,” said Donoghue. “But we’ll take confidence out of this win. And we won’t treat next weekend any differently to this one, or to any of the previous games.”

Dublin only led by four points with 40 minutes on the clock, 1-14 to 1-10, following a mini-Antrim revival. Conal Cunning had a decent scoring opportunity from a placed ball to reduce the gap to three points but dropped it short and that, it turned out, was that. From there, Dublin scored 2-18 in the closing half hour or so. Subs, and in particular Ronan Hayes who set up the Brian Hayes and Burke goals, contributed greatly.

Knockout hurling isn’t in the bag yet but it’s looking good for Dublin who have improved their scoring difference significantly, should they need to rely on it.

“I think it’s too early to say that,” said Donoghue about talk of third place, at least, being secure. “Our vibe to the lads the whole time is that we’ve got to stay strong. I think there’ll be twists and turns so we’ll just refocus on ourselves and see where we are after game five.”

Antrim, who lost by 32 points to Kilkenny in Round 1, at least have their two points from beating Wexford. Avoiding relegation is achievable but a top-three place appears unlikely now. 

“A sloppy start,” lamented Antrim manager Darren Gleeson whose side conceded the Crummey goal inside 10 seconds. “The game just got away from us in the second-half, there wasn’t a second push in us. That’s happened us a couple of times.”

Scorers for Dublin: D Burke (1-11, 1-8 frees); S Currie, C Burke (0-5 each); P Crummey, B Hayes (1-0 each); C O’Sullivan, J Bellew, R Hayes (0-2 each); D Sutcliffe, C Donohoe, F Whitely, S Gallagher, D Power (0-1 each).

Scores for Antrim: J McNaughton (1-2); C Cunning (0-4, 4f); E Campbell (0-3); S Elliott, K Molloy, G Walsh (1 free) (0-2 each); N McKenna, N Elliott, F McCurry (0-1 each).

DUBLIN: S Brennan; J Bellew, E O’Donnell, P Smyth; C Crummey, C Donohoe, P Doyle; C Burke, B Hayes; F Whitely, D Burke, D Sutcliffe; S Currie, C O’Sullivan, P Crummey.

Subs: R Hayes for P Crummey (47); D Power for Sutcliffe (59); J Madden for C Crummey (64); J Malone for O’Sullivan (65); S Gallagher for Currie (69).

ANTRIM: R Elliott; N O’Connor, P Burke, C Boyd; G Walsh, R McGarry, C Bohill; K Molloy, E Campbell; N Elliott, J McNaughton, N McKenna; A O’Brien, C Cunning, S Elliott.

Subs: J McLaughlin for O’Brien (47); P Boyle for Molloy (50); F McCurry for Boyd (55); C McGarry for McKenna (62); S McKay for Cunning (66).

Referee: K Jordan (Tipperary).