Allianz Hurling Division One: Saffrons rally comes too late as Dublin hold on
- Published
Dublin led 0-15 to 0-8 at half-time at Parnell Park and increased their advantage to 0-21 to 0-11 after 46 minutes
Antrim's rally came too late as they suffered another Division One defeat in the Allianz Hurling League as Dublin held on for a 0-28 to 2-19 win.
Dublin led 0-21 to 0-11 after 46 minutes at Parnell Park and despite a Keelan Molloy goal, they were still 0-28 to 1-15 ahead after 65 minutes.
But Molloy's second goal started a late unanswered run of 1-4 which could have been even better for the Saffrons.
Dublin were seriously rattled late on but held on for a three-point win.
With Neil McManus having gone close to hitting two Antrim goals earlier in the second half, the Saffrons were left with a sense of what might have been even though they had looked decidedly second best for most of the contest.
Donal Burke's 10 points - including five from play - had helped the Dubs appear in total control before the energy seemed to drain from them in the closing minutes as Antrim suddenly started winning all the possession.
But while Antrim hit the closing five scores, they missed a number of other chances to further reduce Dublin's lead and the home side were mightily relieved when Cork referee Colm Lyons blew the final whistle in the fourth minute of added time.
Saffrons make slow and sloppy start
Not for the first time, Antrim made a slow and sloppy start as poor handling and bad passing helped the Dubs strike the opening five points in the first nine minutes.
A couple of early missed frees by Conal Cunning didn't steady Saffrons nerves although he did open Antrim's account in the 10th minute with a fine effort from play from a tight angle.
The score started a more profitable period of action for Antrim as they cut Dublin's lead to 0-6 to 0-5 by the 20th minute.
However, Burke's second point got Dublin going again as they fired six out of the next seven scores to move 0-12 to 0-6 up by the 31st minute.
Antrim felt they might have been denied a penalty when 0-10 to 0-6 down as Seann Elliott burst through the Dublin defence, with Lyons judging that he had lost his footing rather than being fouled.
The margin was increased to seven by half-time as the home side responded to Paddy Burke and Cunning scores with further points from the Burkes, Conor and Donal (two).
Liam Murphy hit two points for Dublin at Parnell Park
While Cunning notched the first score after the resumption, the game did appear over as two more Donal Burke points in a run of four helped Dublin 0-19 to 0-9 after 43 minutes.
The margin was still 10 after 46 minutes and the conviction that the game was going to peter out into nothingness was only increased as Dublin keeper Eddie Gibbons denied a McManus goal effort before the Cushendall star saw another fierce goalbound effort come back off the crossbar.
And while Molloy did rattle the Dublin net in the 51st minute, the Dubs responded with three unanswered points in 90 seconds to still lead 0-24 to 1-12 after 53 minutes.
The home side's lead was once again 10 five minutes before the end of normal time after another sensational Burke point was followed by a free which brought up his tally to 0-10.
But neither Burke nor Dublin managed another score in the remaining nine minutes of action as the roof nearly fell in on them following Molloy's second goal.
Four further Antrim scores followed as Dublin simply couldn't get their hands on the ball but amid the frantic finish, the Saffrons lacked the necessary composure which could possibly have seen them snatch the most improbable of victories.
After losing their opener at home to Kilkenny, the Saffrons share bottom spot with Laois in Division One B with Dublin moving to three points alongside Waterford - one behind leaders Tipperary who beat Kilkenny 2-24 to 1-21 at Nowlan Park.
Down and Derry beaten in Division Two
In Division Two, Down suffered a second successive defeat as they were edged out 1-17 to 0-9 in Kildare.
Ronan Sheehan's Mourne side led 0-11 to 0-7 after 29 minutes and despite Cathal McCabe's Kildare goal, the visitors still had a 0-14 to 1-9 advantage at half-time.
While the scored began to dry up in the second half, Down were 0-17 to 1-12 up up after 64 minutes but four unanswered points saw Kildare lead by two as the match entered injury-time and McCabe's point proved the winner despite Pearse Og McCrickard hitting the final score of the match.
It was a very different story at Tullamore as Offaly substitute Eoghan Cahill hit 0-12 after being introduced in the first half as the home side eased to a 0-33 to 1-15 win over Derry.
The Oak Leafers led 0-8 to 0-7 after 30 minutes and while Offaly then hit six unanswered points, a Reece McSorley goal left only two between the teams at half-time.
However, the second half was a procession of Offaly scores as they struck 20 points to pull away from the northerners.