Dublin 2-21
Carlow 1-16

Mattie Kenny began his reign as Dublin senior hurling manager in winning fashion tonight as the capital men produced the second-half goods to down Carlow in the opening round of the Walsh Cup.

Played in soaking wet conditions at Netwatch Cullen Park, only Eamonn Dillon’s 12th minute goal helped Dublin lead by 1-8 to 0-9 at the halfway stage of what was an entertaining contest.

Sean Treacy made it a three-point game early in the restart but the home side hit back with an immediate goal from Ted Joyce to tie things up and were in the lead come the 38th minute via Martin Kavanagh (0-12).

John Hetherton (free) and Donal Burke put the Dubs back in front and a brace from Caolan Conway gave the visitors a cushion prior to Fintan McGibb lashing home a second goal to the Carlow net on 49 minutes in splendid fashion.

From there it was smooth sailing for Kenny’s charges, as Burke, McGibb, Sean Moran and Hetherton, who finished with 0-10, raised further white flags to help see out the eight-point win.

Up next for Dublin is a home date with Offaly on Sunday while Carlow must travel to Laois for their second round fixture on the same afternoon (both games are due to throw-in at 2pm).

Dublin - A Nolan; S Barrett, B O'Carroll, L Gannon; T Connolly, S Moran (0-1f), C Crummey; J Malone, S Treacy (0-1); F Whitely, C Burke, F McGibb (1-2); J Hetherton (0-10, 7f, 1'65), E Dillon (1-1), D Burke (0-4, 1f). Subs: C Conway (0-2) for C Burke, R Hayes for J Malone, C Ryan for S Treacy, O O'Rourke for E Dillon, D O'Flynn for J Hetherton, R Smith for F McGibb, D Gray for D Burke.

Carlow - B Treacy; A Corcoran, P Doyle, M Doyle; E Nolan, D English, R Coady (0-1); J Kavanagh, D Byrne; S Whelan, R Smithers, J Murphy (0-1); M Kavanagh (0-12, 10f), T Joyce (1-0), C Nolan (0-1). Subs: K McDonald for S Whelan, J Nolan (0-1) for C Nolan, G Bennett for R Coady.

Referee - J Heffernan.

Great opening result for our Hurlers, 8 point victory to start the season! 💪 #TheNextChapter pic.twitter.com/Rj8gHV4kgq

— Dublin GAA (@DubGAAOfficial) December 11, 2018

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