Dominant first half display from Dublin sees Kilkenny off
Dublin picked up their second win of the National Hurling League Division 1A thanks to a storming first-half half display against Kilkenny.
Danny Sutcliffe's goal three minutes from the break put Dublin in total control at half-time and despite early second-half goals from Colin Fennelly and a TJ Reid penalty, Dublin closed out the win with a solid final quarter.
Dublin were excellent in the first-half and ran into a 0-4 to 0-2 lead thanks to two points from both Alan McCrabbe and Conal Keaney.
But Kilkenny took the lead for the only time in the ninth minute when John Power rattled the net from an acute angle following a driving Walter Walsh run and neat pass from Colin Fennelly.
Despite the set-back Anthony Daly's men refused to be cowed by the Cats and with Joey Boland and Danny Sutcliffe becoming increasingly influential that began to pull away from Brian Cody's side.
Just a point separated the sides by the 26th minute as Eoin Larkin racked up the frees for Kilkenny, but the Metropolitans hit an unanswered 1-6 before the break including Sutcliffe's goal which dropped under David Herrity's crossbar to lead by1-16 to 1-6 at half-time.
Ten points up at the break, Dublin looked likely to cruise to their second win of the competition, but in typical fashion, Kilkenny brought themselves back into the tie with a blistering start to the half.
Colin Fennelly hit the roof of the net from distance in the 38th minute, before TJ Reid buried a penalty in the 43rd minute following an incident involving sub Jack Doughan and John Joe Farrell.
Moments later Farrell added a point for the Cats to trim Dublin's lead to 1-16 to 3-7, but after the blistering start to the half Dublin settled themselves somewhat with two points from McCrabbe.
And Daly's side finished strongly as Mark Schutte and Ryan O'Dwyer scores sealed the win.
G Maguire; N Corcoran, P Kelly, C O’Callaghan; S Durkin, L Rushe, M Carton; J Boland (0-3), J McCaffrey (0-1); C Cronin (0-1), R O’Dwyer (0-1), D Sutcliffe (1-5); D O’Callaghan (0-1), C Keaney (0-3, 1f), A McCrabbe (0-6, 2f, 1 sideline, 1 ’65).
Subs used: J Doughan for Corcoran (41), M Schutte (0-1) for McCaffrey (55), N McMorrow for Cronin (62), S McGrath for O’Callaghan (68).
D Herity; P Murphy, B Hogan, T Keogh; T Walsh, L Ryan, J Holden; R Hogan (0-1f), C Buckley (0-1); W Walsh (0-1), C Fennelly (1-0), E Larkin (0-4, 3f, 1 ’65); J Farrell (0-1), J Power (1-1), A Fogarty (0-1).
Subs used: TJ Reid (1-0 pen) for J Power (34), P Walsh (0-2) for T Walsh (35), H Shefflin for Fogarty (43), B Kennedy for Ryan (60), R Power (0-1) for W Walsh (62).
J Sexton (Cork).
