Dublin 3-29 Galway 0-19
Donal Burke led the destruction of Henry Shefflin's Galway with a terrific 0-18 haul at Parnell Park as Dublin pulled off a huge Walsh Cup win.
Kilkenny icon Shefflin went with an experimental line-up again and winced as his rookie outfit was torn apart with Rian McBride and the Crummey brothers, Chris and Paul, all registering majors for the rampant Dubs.
The big win matches Dublin's Championship triumph over the Tribesmen of last summer and means they've now registered back to back wins in the pre-season competition ahead of their Round 3 trip to Offaly next weekend.
Antrim felt Dublin's full force last weekend and Galway were blown away early on this time, slumping to a shock double scores defeat in the end.
Galway will wrap up their group campaign against Antrim next weekend and while Shefflin won't press any panic buttons so early in the season and while trying out so many new faces, he will demand a significant improvement.
Three late additions to the Dublin team - new captain Eoghan O'Donnell, former captain Crummey and talisman forward Burke - suggested that this was a game Dublin were keen to win.
All three made strong contributions with O'Donnell locking down the Dublin defence, goalscorer Crummey slotting in as a defensive midfielder and Burke leading an attack that Galway simply couldn't contain for long spells.
Dublin carved out half a dozen goal chances in the first-half alone and really should have been more than 1-16 to 0-8 ahead at half-time.
Colin Currie, who struck 1-13 last weekend in the win over Antrim, was denied a goal on three occasions, first by a flying save from Eanna Murphy, then when he was cleverly hooked and he also struck into the side-netting in the 21st minute when a goal seemed a certainty.
McBride, wearing number nine but playing in attack again, found himself in acres of space on several occasions and capitalised for Dublin's only goal of the half, in the 20th minute.
He soloed through on the right and improvised from close range with a batted finish to avoid being hooked.
Trailing by 0-04 to 1-11, Galway's new look defence that included Stephen Barrett and Jack Grealish was in real trouble and it was no surprise to see the hugely experienced Padraic Mannion called upon by the 30th minute, replacing Sean Bleahane.
Points from Niall Burke and free-taker Donal O'Shea lifted Galway's mood slightly but they still trailed by 11 points at the interval.
Cathal Mannion was also introduced for Galway at half-time and scored the visitors' first point of the second-half but also got booked for his involvement in minor melee and later gifted a pass to Jake Malone that resulted in a Dublin score.
Dublin's second goal in the 48th minute came from another Galway calamity, Darren Morrissey this time colliding with a defensive colleague and allowing Ronan Hayes to collect the loose ball and play in Chris Crummey who raced clear and struck beyond goalkeeper Murphy.
Dublin now led 2-18 to 0-10 and could afford to use the remainder of the game to unload their bench and bring on the likes of Lucan defender Luke Walsh to sample the landslide win.
John Hetherton came on and pinched a terrific score from out on the right wing too.
Subs contributed 1-04 in total with Paul Crummey striking Dublin's third goal in stoppage time when he combined with Alex Considine for a remarkable 19-point win.
Dublin: Sean Brennan; John Bellew, Eoghan O'Donnell, Andrew Dunphy; James Madden, Paddy Smyth, Daire Gray; Chris Crummey (1-02), Conor Burke; Cian O'Sullivan (0-03), Rian McBride (1-01), Donal Burke (0-18, 0-09f, 0-01 65); Aidan Mellett, Colin Currie, Fergal Whitely (0-01).
Subs: Cian O'Callaghan (0-02) for Madden 35+1, Ronan Smith for Gray h/t, Ronan Hayes for Mellett 47, Alex Considine for Whitely 47, Davy Keogh for Crummey 52, Paul Crummey (1-00) for C Currie 55, John Hetherton (0-01) for O'Sullivan and Jake Malone (0-01) for McBride 56, Sean Moran for Dunphy 63, Luke Walsh for Bellew 66.
Galway: Eanna Murphy; Stephen Barrett, Gearoid McInerney, Jack Grealish; Sean Bleahane, Darren Morrissey, TJ Brennan; Sean Loftus (0-01), Conor Walsh; Cianan Fahy (0-01), Niall Burke (0-02), Ronan Glennon (0-01); Evan Niland (0-05, 0-02f), Kevin Cooney, Donal O'Shea (0-03, 0-03f).
Subs: Padraic Mannion (0-01) for Bleahane 30, Cathal Mannion (0-03) for Walsh h/t, Tom Monaghan (0-01) for O'Shea 45, Jack Hastings for Fahy 52, Conor Caulfield (0-01) for Glennon 56, Tiernan Killeen for Brennan 58, Ian McGlynn for Barrett 67.
Referee: Sean Cleere (Kilkenny).
Offaly 3-18 Antrim 0-21
Ahead of the game, both squads paid a collective tribute to Ashling Murphy, the woman murdered just outside Tullamore this week.
The @Offaly_GAA and @AontroimGAA hurlers join to form the letter A on the pitch at O'Connor Park ahead of the Walsh Cup game as a mark of respect for Ashling Murphy pic.twitter.com/K5COy0QWn7
— Official Offaly GAA (@Offaly_GAA) January 16, 2022
Offaly started bright and Jason Sampson was the man to get the last touch on the ball as they scored an early goal. Their lead was five by the fifteenth minute.
While the teams would trade scores for the next quarter of an hour, the Faithful made their move just before the break to stretch their lead to 11, with further majors for Luke Nolan and Eimhin Kelly.
Conal Cunning and Ciaran Clarke helped the Saffrons to narrow the gap after the resumption, although it was still nine with 10 minutes to go. Antrim continued to battle, and some fine scoring from Eoghan Campbell and Neil McManus had the gap down to four inside the closing stages.
But the goal they really needed to get back into the game never arrived and Offaly were able to finish the job from there to pick up their first win of the campaign.
Kilkenny 1-27 Laois 0-24
Laois took advantage of a rusty looking, and inexperienced, Kilkenny side to lead by three points early on, but the Cats were level by the 12th minute when Emmet Landy made the best of an error to score a goal.
Ross King was keeping the scoreboard ticking over for the hosts with scores from frees and play, and it was enough to see them take a one-point lead into the break (0-13 to 1-09).
The O'Moore men stretched that lead out to three early in the second half, but then Brian Cody's men began to find some more form. They hit five quick-fire points in a two-minute spell to move ahead. Robbie Buckley, introduced at the break, hit three points on the spin to push them clear.
The momentum was with Kilkenny from there, and they saw the game out to win their first outing of the new season.
Limerick 4-29 Kerry 0-11
The All-Ireland champions were never behind as they booked their place in the final of the Co-Op Superstores Munster Hurling Cup final against Clare.
David Reidy and Cathal O'Neill impressed in the early stages, with Pat Ryan scoring their opening goal.
As you would expect at this time of the year, the Treaty City men were holding some of their more well known players in reserve but the players on show only reminded everyone of the current strength of hurling in the county.
Brian O'Grady hit a brace of nice points just after the break, before Reidy and Adam English added further goals. A fourth goal arrived - Ryan's second - as they went on to claim a 30-point winning margin.
