Pat Horgan downs Dublin as Cork surge to top of table

Cork 0-34 Dublin 1-20

Pat Horgan shot an impressive 14 points as Cork easily overcame Dublin to take their place at the head of the Allianz Hurling League Division 1A table.

The Glen Rovers man led a thrilling Cork attack that all but sealed victory by half-time when they led by 13.

Full-forward Luke O'Farrell took the Man of the Match gong while Seamus Harnedy and Rob Shea delivered 0-9 between them.

It was a repeat of Cork’s win over Dublin when the sides last met in the 2013 All-Ireland semi-final at the same venue but few anticipated such a massive gap between the sides would remain as Dublin came into the contest in strong form.

Ger Cunningham, Cork coach back in 2013, had guided his side to impressive wins over Tipperary and Kilkenny but they were operating in Cork's slipstream from early on and trailed 0-8 to 0-2 after 15 minutes.

Horgan was excellent, delivering nine points overall in the first-half as the Rebels took a 0-21 to 0-8 interval advantage.

Paul Ryan steadied Dublin after his introduction. The free-taker shot nine points as Dublin outscored Cork narrowly in the second-half.

But the outcome was never in question as Harnedy and Horgan kept Cork well in control with second-half scores. Liam Rushe hit a consolation goal for Dublin with two minutes remaining but by then this contest was already over.

Cork: A Nash; S O'Neill, C Joyce, C O'Sullivan; L McLoughlin (0-1), M Ellis (0-1), C Murphy (0-1); D Kearney (0-1), A Walsh; C Lehane (0-1), S Harnedy (0-5), R O'Shea (0-4); A Cadogan (0-1), L O'Farrell (0-4), P Horgan (0-14, 0-10f).

Subs: S McDonnell for Joyce (7), B Lawton (0-1) for Walsh (53), S Moylan for Cadogan (57), A Spillane for O’Farrell (61), A Walsh for O’Shea (65).

Dublin: A Nolan; C O'Callaghan, M Carton, P Schutte; C Crummey, P Kelly, C Keaney; S Durkin (0-2), D Sutcliffe (0-2); N McMorrow (0-2), R O'Dwyer, E Dillon; D Treacy (0-3, 1f), L Rushe (1-0), M Schutte.

Subs: P Ryan (0-9, 0-7f) for M Schutte (32), B Quinn for Keaney, C Cronin (0-1) for O’Dwyer (h/t), D O’Callaghan (0-1) for Dillon (58), C Boland for McMorrow (63).

Referee: A Kelly (Galway).