Dublin withstand late rally to leave Thurles with a win

Mattie Kenny's Dublin withstood a late Tipperary fightback to claim the points at Semple Stadium this evening.

Rian McBride and Ronan Hayes scored goals either side of the break for the visitors, as they maintained their 2022 unbeaten record.

There was little sign of Tipp’s new flowing short game under Colm Bonnar, with the Dubs dominating the physical and breaking ball contests.

Jason Forde had a late goal chance to steal the win for the hosts, but he failed to lift the ball inside the area before being snuffed out by the excellent Sean Brennan in goals.

Dublin had enough chances to take control of the game early on but had left their shooting sticks at home.

Their sole return from eight chances inside 12 minutes was a free from Donal Burke, with the biggest miss being a tame Whitely shot at Barry Hogan.

Jason Forde (free), Robert Byrne (two) and Paul Flynn raised white flags for the economical hosts during that spell and they went on to lead by 0-6 to 0-2 on 17 minutes.

The sides flooded the middle of the field, with the Dubs delivering in good ball that simply wasn’t being finished off.

Hayes eventually opened his account and then Burke knocked over two more frees - one of which had been missed, but was retaken and moved up after Byrne got involved - before the visitors struck a blow.

Creator Danny Sutcliffe found himself in traffic at the sideline of his own '45, flicked it over his head, and then drove it first time into the Tipp half.

Whitely won the ruck, sent Chris Crummey free, who fed Rian McBride to crack the ball low to the net past Hogan.

It gave Dublin the lead for the first time - 1-5 to 0-7 - and the sides then traded scores for the remaining ten minutes of the half.

Michael Breen and Forde (sideline and free) doing