Dublin had their expected victory at Netwatch Cullen Park in this All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final but they were far from convincing.
The pre-match favourites did what they had to do to progress to the All-Ireland quarter-final but Clare, who they are playing in the next round, will hardly be worrying too much.
The visitors were expected to win and win handsomely. Victory was achieved but the ten-point winning margin at the end was flattering.
Dónal Óg Cusack put the spotlight on the patterns that Micheál Donoghue has been trying to instil into the Dublin hurlers while Ursula Jacob has her say on whether they can trouble Clare in the All-Ireland QFs
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Dublin started with a flourish as Chris O'Leary broke through but his shot flew high and over the crossbar. While a Marty Kavanagh free drew Carlow back on terms and a Chris Nolan point nudged them in front, two Donal Burke frees seemed to keep Dublin on the front foot.
After that, they allowed Carlow to dominate and by the end of the first quarter the home side led 0-06 to 0-05. On balance, Dublin looked to be in control but Carlow were gritty and were hurling well.
James Doyle lifted Carlow supporters by scoring two lovely points. His runs troubled the Dublin defence. Both Burke and Kavanagh were still the key men in the half with the latter landing a free in injury-time to leave the home side leading 0-13 to 0-12 at the interval.
A Conor Burke point early in the second half drew Dublin level once more. Donal Burke added a free while Mark Grogan raised another white flag. It was to get better for Dublin as they raided down the right at the tunnel end of the ground.
While Kavanagh replied with a free, Dublin took control when Grogan took a pass from Cian O’Sullivan and beat Brian Tracey, the Carlow goalkeeper, with a well-placed shot. That should have been the signal for Dublin to drive on. They didn’t do so and while Carlow would never lead in the second half, they stayed in touch with the visitors.
Nolan scored two wonderful points for the Barrowsiders while Jack McCullagh was on target from distance. With eight minutes to go, Carlow trailed by two.
Their supporters tried to rise them but with time ebbing away Dublin got a run on their opponents, scoring 1-06 to Carlow’s only point.
O’Sullivan was the second Dublin goalscorer when he took control on the edge of the big square. His shot was low and hard to the bottom left-hand corner. It was the final act of the game which Dublin won going away.
"We are happy with the result. We knew coming down it was going to be a big challenge. It was a big opportunity for them. There was a big crowd. The atmosphere was really good," said Micheál Donohue, the Dublin manager revealing Carlow had opted to play with the wind in the first half.
"We had to defend. It was 0-13 to 0-12 at half-time. We stressed a few things. In fairness the lads pushed on in the second half."
Carlow: Brian Tracey; Paul Doyle, Conor Lawler, Jack McCullagh (0-01); Kevin McDonald (0-01), Diarmuid Byrne, Jack Kavanagh; Fiachra Fitzpatrick, Richie Coady (0-01): Jon Nolan, James Doyle (0-02), Marty Kavanagh (0-12, 12f); John Michael Nolan (0-01), Chris Nolan (0-03), Paddy Boland.
Subs: Jack Treacy for JM Nolan (50), Fiach O’Toole for J Nolan (68), John Doyle for Coady (70).
Dublin: Sean Brennan; John Bellew, Eoghan O’Donnell, Paddy Smith; Paddy Doyle, Conor Burke (0-02), Daire Gray; Mark Grogan (1-02), Chris O’Leary (0-03); Danny Sutcliffe (0-03), Donal Burke (0-08, 8f), Cian Boland; Sean Currie, Cian O’Sullivan (1-03, 1f), Darragh Power (0-01).
Subs: Conor Donohoe for Gray (7, blood), Donohoe for Bellew (ht), Paul Crummey (0-01) for Boland (49), Fergal Whitely (0-02) for Currie (56), Dara Purcell for O’Leary (66), Alex Considine for D Burke (68).
Ref: James Owens (Wexford).
