Dublin secure return to top tier with Cluxton in panel

Dublin's one-year hiatus from Division 1 was brought to a swift end with a routine win over Louth at Croke Park.

With little fuss on the field, all eyes was on the return of Stephen Cluxton to the Dublin panel throughout. Five points in a row at the beginning of the second half all but sealed the promotion.

With the result now not in doubt, further interest on Dessie Farrell’s substitutions grew and grew. Liam Jackson did get Louth off the mark with a well-taken goal midway through the second half but there would be no comeback or Cluxton.

With distractions all around, the Wee County settled with a sample of what went before in this league campaign. Stout defending, neat transition and nippy interplay that saw Ciarán Downey notch the games first score. The loss of Sam Mulroy was well-known, but his effect on Louth’s scoring rate was seen in two long range frees passed over by Mickey Harte’s men. Dublin finally settled and asserted their dominance with two counter attacking scores of their own. The two early scorers, Killian O’Gara and Colm Basquel, two players scrapping for championship places. Yet, despite taking the lead, Dessie Farrell’s outfit laboured and clocked up the wides. Conall McKeever smacked the upright for Louth and Dáire McConnon levelled. McKeever’s effort was wonderfully worked again but Harte’s men were buoyed by the creation of the opportunities. Louth goalkeeper James Califf came up the field to slot over one of those mid range free’s that the Wee county struggled with earlier in the afternoon. That would be the last time the sides were level. Basquel firmly put his hand up with another point and Con O’Callaghan blazed over the bar after a vintage James McCarthy surge into Hill 16.

Ciarán Downey ended