Senior hurlers qualify for quarter-finals

Sun, 22nd March 2015

DUBLIN 0-26 GALWAY 2-14

Dublin's hurlers returned to winning ways with this six-point victory over Galway in Sunday's NHL Division 1A at a sun-kissed Parnell Park.

Following early round victories over both of last year's All-Ireland SHC finalists, Kilkenny and Tipperary, Dublin's graph slumped with defeats to Cork and Clare but Ger Cunningham's men showed great resilience to now make the knockout stages of the league and fend off any relegation play-off fears.

The Dubs will face Limerick next weekend (venue, time, day tbc).

In a free-flowing game Galway led at half-time 2-9 to 0-13.

The Dubs had held the upperhand in terms of possession but were rocked by goals from Cathal Mannion in the fifth minute and Joe Canning in the 28th minute.

The highlight of the opening half was Paul Schutte's excellent 21st minute point when he overlapped with the hard-working Shane Durkin before splitting the posts from 50 metres on the terrace side.

Danny Sutcliffe struck three first half points, Mark Schutte got two while David O'Callaghan engineered two fine points to keep Dublin very much in the hunt at the half-time break.

In the second half the Dublin defence game to terms more with the Galway attack while up front Mark Schutte and Sutcliffe continued to stretch the Galway defence.

Points from Schutte, sub Ryan O'Dwyer and Liam Rushe edged Dublin in front 0-17 to 2-10 by the 41st minute and Dublin kept in front til the final whistle.

Dublin added points through David Treacy (free) and Johnny McCaffrey to make it five unanswered points in the vital six-minute spell for Dublin.

Galway attacks were sporadic but Alan Nolan did well to defy Joe Canning on one occasion while the Portumna man fired another goal effort across the face of Nolan's goal.

Dublin kept the foot to the floor until the finish with points from Mark Schutte, after a precise Niall McMorrow pass, Paul Ryan with an 85-metre free, Schutte again and finally Sutcliffe to seal the deal for the Dubs.

SCORERS - Dublin: DTreacy 0-10 (0-8f, 0-1 '65'), M Schutte 0-5, D Sutcliffe 0-4, D O’Callaghan 0-2, P Schutte, R O’Dwyer, L Rushe, J McCaffrey, P Ryan (0-1f) 0-1 each. Galway: J Canning 1-7 (0-6f), C Mannion 1-2, A Smith 0-2, N Burke, B Molloy, A Harte 0-1 each.

DUBLIN: A Nolan, C O'Callaghan, P Kelly, P Schutte, C Keaney, C Crummey, S Durkin, S Lambert, R O'Carroll, D Sutcliffe, E Dillon, M Schutte, D O'Callaghan, L Rushe, D Treacy. Subs: J McCaffrey for Lambert (28 mins), N McMorrow for O'Carroll (ht), R O'Dwyer for Dillon (ht), P Ryan for O'Callaghan (62).

GALWAY: A Ryan, J Coen, P Killeen, F Moore, D Collins, G Lally, G McInerney, A Smith, A Harte, J Cooney, J Canning, J Glynn, B Molloy, N Burke, C Mannion. Subs: J Flynn for Burke (30), I Tannian for Harte (44), J Hanbury for Moore (46), D Higgins for Molloy (58), C Flynn for J Flynn (67).

REF: J Ryan (Tipperary).