U21 hurlers cruise into All-Ireland final

DUBLIN 3-23 ANTRIM 0-6

Dublin’s under-21 hurlers cruised into the final of the Bord Gais Energy U21HC final after outclassing a limited Antrim side in Saturday’s semi-final at Pairc Esler, Newry.

The Dubs will face Galway, semi-final victors over Limerick, in the All-Ireland final on Saturday, September 10 in Semple Stadium, Thurles.

The young Dubs had little difficulty in overcoming the Ulster champions with an early Mark Schutte goal putting them on the road to victory as they progressed to the U21 decider for the fourth time in Dublin’s history – 1967, 1972 and 2007 being the three previous occasions with the blues still to capture the Cross of Cashel trophy.

It also means Dublin have qualified for the under-21 and minor All-Ireland hurling deciders in the same year for the first time in their history.

Schutte’s early goal was the dream start for John McEvoy’s men after he made a great fetch and Dublin’s aerial dominance was a feature of their play with points from Kevin O’Loughlin, Daire Plunkett, Schutte, and Conor Gough helping them to a 1-9 to 0-4 interval lead, it might well have been more.

Dublin’s lightening restart to the second half effectively ended the game as a contest with Sean McGrath’s goal pushing his side almost out of sight when he was lurking to tap the sliotar to the net after Eamon Dillon’s goal effort was parried.

Antrim could to little to stem the flow of scores with Dean Curran, from long range, Eamon Dillon, Niall McMorrow, McGrath and O’Loughlin all exercising the umpires in the opening ten minutes of the second half by which stage the Dubs were 2-16 to 0-4 clear and dominating all over the park.

Ben Quinn, who had just been introduced, got Dublin’s third goal just inside the concluding five minutes with fellow subs Thomas Connolly and Odhran O Maoileidigh also contributing to the final scoring tally in this facile victory.

SCORERS – Dublin: K O’Loughlin 0-7 (0-3f, 0-1 ‘65’, 0-1 sl), M Schutte 1-3, N McMorrow, D Plunkett 0-3 each, S McGrath 1-1, B Quinn 1-0, E Dillon 0-2, D Curran, C Gough, T Connolly O Maolileidigh 0-1 each.  Antrim: C McCann 0-3 (0-3f), M Devlin, J Black, P McNaughton 0-1 each.
DUBLIN – G McManus; B O’Carroll, D Kelly, J Doughan; D Curran, L Rushe, M Quilty; C Gough; D Sutcliffe; D Plunkett; M Schutte, S McGrath; K O’Loughlin, N McMorrow, E Dillon. Subs: F Clabby for O’Carroll (43), T Connolly for O’Loughlin (45), O Ó Maoileidigh for McGrath (48), S O’Connor for Sutcliffe (48), B Quinn for Rushe (54).
ANTRIM – E Gillan; T McAllister, K McKiernan, P McKeague; M Armstrong, N Cunningham, C Loughran; C Laverty, P McNaughton; J Black, M Devlin, T McCloskey; D McLean, C McCann, S Smyth. Subs: C Gillan for Cunningham (39), Adrian Downey for McKeague (47), Brian Curran for Laverty (56).
REF – F Smith (Meath).