Gaelic Games

Hat-trick of early Dublin goals sets up victory over Cork

Ger Cunningham’s team secure Croke Park victory with powerful first half performance

Dublin’s Liam Rushe and Sean McGrath recover a loose ball with Bill Cooper of Cork applying the pressure. Photograph: Tommy Grealy/Inpho
Dublin’s Liam Rushe and Sean McGrath recover a loose ball with Bill Cooper of Cork applying the pressure. Photograph: Tommy Grealy/Inpho
Paul Keane
Sat Mar 05 2016 - 19:20

Dublin 4-21 Cork 2-17

A 10-point victory for Dublin at Croke Park, keeping alive their title hopes and dumping Cork further into the Allianz hurling league Division 1A relegation mire, could hardly have tasted much sweeter.

It’s almost exactly 12 months since Cork ran up 34 points on Dublin in the corresponding fixture at the same venue, leaving Dublin manager Ger Cunningham with all sorts of questions to answer.

But in the space of just 11 first-half minutes this time, the game was all but put to bed as Dublin remarkably fired 3-6 without reply in that blitzkrieg period to leave Cork eyeing their third straight defeat.

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Man of the Match Eamonn Dillon helped himself to 2-3 overall while David Treacy, who finished with 1-7, also hit the net along with Sean McGrath.

It was Dublin’s first win in either league or Championship at Croke Park since the 2013 Leinster hurling final and it also arrested their poor sequence of results against Cork there having lost three in a row at the venue.

Kieran Kingston made a whopping six changes to his Cork team beforehand after previous losses to Waterford and Galway. Luke O’Farrell was one of the players to come in and he hit the ground running with two early points.

Cork led 0-4 to 0-2 after six minutes and looked primed for a solid display but two converted Treacy frees after fouls on David O’Callaghan seemed to turn the game on its head.

Dublin effectively won the game between the 13th and 24th minutes when they scored that incredible 3-6 without reply, the goals from speedster Dillon, Treacy and McGrath.

Cork were shell shocked and hit the interval trailing by 3-12 to 0-9. Seamus Harnedy pulled back two consolation goals for Cork in second-half injury time but Dillon’s second goal for Dublin after 48 minutes had already wrapped it up.

Dublin: C Dooley; E O'Donnell, C O'Callaghan, O Gough; S Barrett (0-2), L Rushe (0-1), J McCaffrey (0-1); D O'Connell, D Plunkett (0-1); S McGrath (1-0), N McMorrow (0-2), D Treacy (1-7, 4f); D O'Callaghan (0-1), M Schutte (0-2), E Dillon (2-3). Subs: C Cronin for McGrath (h/t), J Boland for McCaffrey (58), S Treacy (0-1) for O'Callaghan (65), F MacGibb for D Treacy (65), J Madden for O'Callaghan (68).

Cork: A Nash; S McDonnell, K Burke, C Joyce; D Cahalane, M Ellis, C Murphy; D Kearney, B Lawton (0-1); B Cooper (0-1), S Harnedy (2-0), C Lehane (0-4); L O'Farrell (0-2), P Cronin, P Horgan (0-7, 7f). Subs: L McLoughlin for Murphy (27), P Haughney (0-2, 1 65) for Kearney (32), S Murphy for McDonnell (h/t), P O'Sullivan for Cronin (44), W Leahy for Horgan (62).

Referee: A Kelly (Galway).