Dublin 1-15
DCU 0-11
Paul Keane reports from Parnell Park
OLD HABITS CLEARLY die hard for back to back All-Ireland champions Dublin whose fringe players still trounced DCU in the Bord na Mona O’Byrne Cup this afternoon.
Boss Jim Gavin and his Sam Maguire Cup winning stars are on holidays so Paul Clarke stood in and guided an experimental side to an opening day Group 1 win.
Dublin had nobody from last year’s Championship panel in action but found inspiration in Niall Walsh, Paul Hudson and Michael Deegan who impressed in attack.
Hudson top scored with 1-3 while Deegan chipped in 0-4 and Walsh provided the creativity from the half-forward line and covered the hard yards around the field.
Goalkeeper Evan Comerford saved a 29th minute penalty in Stephen Cluxton’s absence while Shane Cunningham from Kilmacud Crokes came on and kicked two fine points.
DCU are gearing up for the Sigerson Cup and play Queens University later this month but trailed from gun to tape in a surprisingly predictable encounter.
Deegan, son of Dubs legend Mick, got another chance at this stage of the year and was excellent early on, scoring two points and laying on another.
Former U21 Conor McHugh, fresh from a strong performance in the Dubs Stars annual challenge, kicked two first-half points also while Hudson’s goal arrived shortly before the break.
Walsh did well in the build up and Hudson applied the left footed finish to push Dublin 1-9 to 0-5 up at half-time.
Dublin also hit nine first-half wides so were at their ease and cruised to victory with second-half points from Hudson, Walsh, Gavin Ivory, Deegan and Cunningham.
Both teams took advantage of the unlimited subs arrangement for the competition with Dublin making seven substitutions and DCU nine overall.
Scorers for Dublin: Paul Hudson 1-3 (0-1f), Michael Deegan 0-4 (0-1f), Conor McHugh 0-3, Shane Cunningham 0-2, Jason Whelan, Niall Walsh and Gavin Ivory 0-1 each.
Scorers for DCU: Ryan Burns 0-4 (0-4f), David Mannix 0-2, Dessie Ward, Mark Plunkett, Eanna O’Connor, Cian Mulligan and Thomas O’Reilly 0-1 each.
Dublin
1. Evan Comerford (Ballymun Kickhams)
2. Jack Smith (Skerries Harps)
3. Eoin O’Brien (Castleknock)
4. Ross McGowan (Kilmacud Crokes)
7. Brian Howard (Raheny)
6. Ciaran Reddin (St Maurs)
5. Niall Scully (Templeogue Synge Street)
8. Jason Whelan (Ballymun Kickhams)
9. Ryan Deegan (Thomas Davis)
10. Gary Sweeney (St Sylvesters)
11. Shane Boland (Castleknock)
12. Niall Walsh (St Oliver Plunketts)
13. Paul Hudson (Thomas Davis)
14. Michael Deegan (Donaghmore Ashbourne, Meath)
15. Conor McHugh (Na Fianna)
Subs
20. Gavin Ivory (Raheny) for Hudson (46)
18. Tom Shiels (Castleknock) for O’Brien (48)
17. Robbie Gaughan (Ballinteer St Johns) for Walsh (52)
21. Shane Cunningham (Kilmacud Crokes) for McHugh (58)
19. Ross O’Brien (St Judes) for Boland (63)
23. Ross Hazley (St Sylvesters) for Whelan (63)
22. Sean Newcombe (Lucan Sarsfields) for R Deegan (70)
DCU
1. Shane Mannion
2. Eoin Smith
3. Daniel O’Neill
4. Barry Kerr
7. Seamus Lavin
6. Kevin Feely
21. Dessie Ward
8. Caolan McGonagle
9. Hugh McFadden
10. Eanna O’Connor
26. Mark Plunkett
5. Tom Lahiffe
27. David Mannix
12. Niall Murphy
15. Ryan Burns
Subs
24. Shane Carthy for Murphy (30)
17. David Neary for Ward (h/t)
28. Eoghan Smyth for Mannix (h/t)
25. Cian Mulligan for Lahiffe (h/t)
29. Thomas O’Reilly for O’Connor (60)
23. Matthew Corcoran for Plunkett (60)
20. Brian Cawley for Eoin Smith (62)
18. Conor Doran for Kerr (69)
22. Thomas Galligan for McGonagle (69)
Referee: Cormac Reilly (Meath).
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