Dublin 0-22 Antrim 0-15: The Parnell Park sod was heavy yesterday and a wan sun blessed us and perhaps to mark the first weekend of what feels like spring Dublin and Antrim held back slightly.
This, after all, though an early date in the hurling calendar, was touted as a game which would determine the pecking order in the basement of NHL Division 1A at close of business.
Dublin won comfortably, a surprising outcome over a touted Antrim side whose recent exertions brought them a Walsh Cup win and Kilkenny's scalp.
Things started to go wrong for Dublin last year when they went to Casement Park and lost. By contrast everything looked good right from the start yesterday, when Stuart Mullen made a smart handpass to Joey Boland, who drove the ball over the bar to open the scoring.
Mullen would go on to have one of those memorable days when everything goes right.
"Any day when you don't miss a free is a good one, " he said afterwards with a grin, and his tally of 12 points included a perfect record from 10 dead balls and a couple of good points from play.
For a player who has been hanging around the Dublin squad for some time it was a chance seized.
Generally Dublin showed signs of having matured from last year, physically as well as mentally.
There were times when Antrim's young side were just overmatched in terms of power, while the way Dublin opened both halves and closed out the game suggested a side coming to grips with how to win games.
Antrim's Dominic McKinley pointed out afterwards that Antrim were without their Dunloy contingent, an absence felt most keenly in the forwards and scores were hard to come by.
Dublin were without their midfielder Alan McCrabbe and the club-tied Ronan Fallon but found their UCD Fitzgibbon trio of Ross O'Carroll, Joey Boland and Tomás Brady in fine form.
All three have been fast-tracked in terms of experience and yesterday each one looked like an established senior player.
O'Carroll's physical strength and his confident catching have given a new dimension to Dublin's forward play since his emergence and he was especially prominent early on as Dublin worked away at building a lead they would hold onto without too much stress. Their 10th point, scored by the veteran Kevin O'Flynn, was a hymn to the virtues of simplicity.
Gary Maguire's puck-out was caught by O'Carroll, who drove it on to Flynn (the pair had swapped positions early in the game), who took a lovely score - an entire pitch-length move in the space of seconds.
By then Antrim knew that they were in trouble and that perhaps the heroics of the Walsh Cup had exacted too big a price.
Neil McManus had just taken a lovely score on the turn himself but the Cushendall man's moments of brilliance weren't enough to turn the tide in midfield, and by the second half himself and Eddie McCloskey had been moved forward to make way for a more muscular presence in midfield.
Unfortunately for Antrim, that combination only settled in when it was too late. Having led by five points at the break, Dublin scored the first four points of the second half thanks to two Mullen frees and points from play from Declan Qualter and Dotsie O'Callaghan.
O'Callaghan, back in serious intercounty action after a few years' absence, which included exile with the footballers and a little time abroad, showed enough in his three points and other patches of excellence to remind the Parnell Park faithful of what they have been missing. Late in the game he was denied a goal by a fine save from Ryan McGarry at the cost of a 65.
Antrim face an uphill task from here on in. "We were just very flat and couldn't get going," said Dominic McKinley. "The team stayed at it and didn't throw the towel in but after the Walsh Cup people needed not to get carried away. We needed those points."
Dublin will be happy with most facets of their performance albeit against tired opposition. The excellence of new defender Paddy Bergin will have been another piece of good news for Tommy Naughton, whose side travel to Kilkenny next week.
DUBLIN: G Maguire; P Brennan, S Hiney, P Bergin; M Carton, T Brady, K Ryan; J Boland (0-1), J McCaffrey; S Mullen (0-12 eight frees, 0-2 65s), D Qualter (0-2), K Flynn (0-1); D O'Callaghan (0-3), P O'Driscoll (0-1), R O'Carroll (0-2). Subs: S Lambert for K Ryan (28 mins), P Ryan for Flynn (52 mins).
ANTRIM: R McGarry; A Graffin, N McCarry, S Delargy; C Herron, K McKeegan, K Elliott; N McManus (0-3), K Stewart; M Magill, L Watson (0-9 five frees, 0-2 65s), P McGill (0-1); E McCloskey (0-1), C Donnelly, S McCrory (0-1). Subs: M McCambridge for Elliott, D McNaughton for McGill (both ht), M Kettle for Herron (50 min).
Referee: J McGrath(Westmeath).
