Six points from the trusty boot of Fionn Murray gave Dublin a deserved four point win against a battling Wicklow side this evening.
Fionn Murray got the scoreboard ticking for Dublin with just two minutes on the clock with a simple effort over the bar after a perfectly weighted pass from Sean Foran through the middle.
The response from Wicklow was impressive. Dublin enjoyed large spells early on around the middle as they probed for an opening but strong tackling from Zach Cullen and Gavin Fogarty limited the hosts to little close to goal.
Points from Kevin Quinn, Mark Swan and allowed both sides to settle well into the game after a frantic start.
Dublin had a huge chance for goal on fifteen minutes when the roving Gavin Fearon advanced right into the box untouched. A fantastic last ditch tackle from Gavin Fogarty denied the Skerries man at the last second and relieve the pressure on Wicklow.
Dublin did get their goal right before the first water break with a powerful finish from Sean Foran after a brilliant solo run. Zach Cullen did his best as the last man to stop the Dublin player in his tracks but Foran wasn't to be denied his goal.
As the first half progressed Dublin were well on top and only for some bad wides could have been more than five in front.
With five minutes to go in the first half Rory Dwyer made a brilliant goal line clearance from a Craig Maguire effort just yards from the Dublin goal. The lively Kevin Quinn was brilliant once again in the build up to Maguire’s effort but Dwyer did enough to clear his lines.
It was Kevin Quinn who notched the final score of the half to leave five between the sides at the break. Quinn’s sharpness in front of goal gave him his third from play keeping Wicklow in touch.
Wicklow had the ball in the back of the net within seconds of the second half starting. Straight from the throw in Kevin Quinn once more picked the ball up in midfield before passing it over the head of JP Nolan to smash the ball past O’Neill from close range.
Wicklow had a chance to take the lead for the first time in the game when they were awarded a penalty moments after Nolan’s goal but McDonald decided to take his point and level the game.
The next two scores belonged to the trusty boot of Fionn Murray as Dublin edged narrowly in front at the second water break.
Dublin finished the game strongly with Luke Swan kicking two late points to give Dublin a four point win.
Dublin: Josh O’Neill; Conor Tyrrell, Adam Rafter, Ben Millist; Rory Dwyer, Adam Waddick, Mark LE'strange (0-01); Mark O’Leary (0-01), Adam Fearon; Mark Lavin (0-01), Lorcan O’Dell, Sean Foran (1-00); Fionn Murray (0-06, 1f, 1 '45), Luke Swan (0-03), Luke Ward
Subs: Luke Murphy-Ginnane for Sean Foran 33, Conor Chawke for Luke Ward 43, David O’Dowd for Mark Lavin 54, Senan Forker for Mark O’Leary 54
Wicklow: Jack Sargent; Chris Grimes, Malachy Stone, Tom Moran; Gavin Fogarty, Zach Cullen, Craig Maguire; Eoghan Byrne, Sam O’Dowd; Kevin Quinn (0-03), Johnny Keogh, Cillian McDonald (0-02); Matthew Ging (0-01, 1f), Sean Crowley, Eoin Darcy (0-01) (JP Nolan 23)
Subs: JP Nolan (1-01) for Eoin Darcy 23, Jordan Brady for Matthew Ging 38, Oisin Cullen for Eoghan Byrne 45, Arun Daly Danne for Craig Maguire 55, Bradley Hickey for Sean Crowley 60, Shane Daly for Cillian McDonald 65
Elsewhere in the provincial championship, Offaly survived a major scare as they prevailed by 1-10 to 1-09 against a spirited Wexford outfit at Chadwicks Wexford Park.
The visitors dominated the match, leading by 0-07 to 0-03 at half-time, while they extended their buffer to six points by the time of the second-half water break as Jack Bryant netted a penalty as Offaly raced to a 1-09 to 0-06 advantage.
The Model men had failed to score from play hadn't scored from play at that point, but they caught fire in the closing stages.
Shane Pettitt capped a big performance with a goal in the 61st minute and Anthony Larkin struck with a free from distance as Offaly nerves jangled, but the Faithful County held out to advance to the semi-finals.
