Dublin 3-23 Laois 1-7:UNFORTUNATELY THIS was as gruesome as the scoreline suggests. Two counties veering dramatically in opposite directions collided at O'Connor Park and all the statistics confirmed it was simply a cakewalk for Dublin.
Twenty two points divided Dublin and Laois, but the real gap was in years, as at this stage Anthony Daly’s side are arguably a decade ahead of the O’Moore boys.
Teddy McCarthy famously won two All-Irelands in a fortnight in 1990, but perhaps his most significant GAA challenge is now. Following the massacre, McCarthy remained adamant he will be with Laois for the long haul and the journey back towards respectability needs to commence in the qualifiers. For Dublin this was just a niggling fixture that needed to be taken care of ahead of the serious business which starts against standard-bearers Kilkenny in three weeks.
Dublin were in the groove and they did damage early and often with Liam Rushe the chief protagonist on the edge of square.
Rushe plundered two goals in the opening period and the revitalised David Treacy flicked a wristy third as Dublin departed at the break with a staggering 3-14 to 1-1 advantage.
Daly was satisfied with the purposeful display.
“We spoke about June 2nd quite a lot during the year, that was the target date so there are a good lot of positives on that front. It wasn’t much of a hard match really, the second half was dead, it was quiet. But sure look, we came as ready as can be, that’s all you can do.”
Not only were Dublin ready, they were ruthless too.
There was crisp Dublin striking to match the courage under the high ball as Laois were blitzed. Though Neil Foyle responded to Rushe’s initial goal with a goal for Laois, Dublin still led 1-4 to 1-1 a quarter of an hour in and then the victors scorched clear before the interval.
Rushe and Treacy rattled the Laois net, Paul Ryan was typically clinical in the corner, and the returning Conal Keaney was always relevant.
Keaney, Tomás Brady, and Stephen Hiney were back following lengthy lay-offs and Daly was encouraged. “I thought they did great. We put Stephen on Willie Hyland and he did a great job in the first half. There’ll be harder tests ahead, but they did great for their first game back. I know they played some club matches and a challenge match, but championship is different.
“Even out there, a messy old evening, I know it looked slow but you have to start off at championship pace. It was a bit unusual for Tomás to be in the corner, there is a bit of adjusting but he just has to get used to it and he did get into the play at the end.”
In the dying stages Laois tagged on a couple of late points to put a slightly healthier look to their own tally. McCarthy now hopes that Laois can develop and improve rapidly. “Look, the day will happen sometime that we will bounce back and we’ll get a result. We’re into the qualifiers now. All we can do is take baby steps and hopefully we will grow up one of these days.”
Dublin are maturing and when asked about their chances of vexing the Cats, even after what had just happened, there was still a Cork twinkle in McCarthy’s eyes when asked his opinion. “I think they can beat them if they believe in themselves and the media keep the hype off them.”
DUBLIN: G Maguire; N Corcoran, P Kelly, T Brady; S Hiney, J Boland (0-1), M Carton; J McCaffrey (0-1), S Durkin (0-2); C McCormack (0-2), D Sutcliffe (0-1), C Keaney (0-2); P Ryan (0-9, three frees, two 65s), L Rushe (2-2), D Treacy (1-2). Subs: D O’Callaghan (0-1) for Rushe (38 mins), S Lambert for Sutcliffe (44 mins), S Stapleton for Treacy (46 mins, blood), M O’Brien for McCaffrey (50 mins), D Curtin for Keaney (57 mins), O Gough for Corcoran (60 mins).
LAOIS: E Reilly; C Coonan, D Maher, G Burke; C Dunne, M Whelan (0-2, two 65s), M McEvoy; J Walsh, S Hanlon; S Maher, B Dunne, W Hyland (0-3, two frees, one sideline); T Fitzgerald, N Foyle (1-0), D O’Mahoney. Subs: C Murray (0-1) for O’Mahony (25 mins), C Healy for Foyle (36 mins), B Smith for C Dunne (44 mins), W Dunphy (0-1) for Walsh (56 mins).
Referee: J Owens (Wexford).
