Dubs Stars 2-13 Dublin 0-13
/>Mark Schutte, Dublin, in action against Stephen O’Connor, Dublin Blue Stars
01 JANUARY 2014
A NEW YEAR, but it will be the same old message from Dublin hurling manager Anthony Daly.
“We are not going to try and re-invent the wheel or anything like that,” quipped the Blues boss at the annual Dubs Stars challenge at Round Towers’ ground in Clondalkin.
“Things went fairly right for us last season, so we’ll be trying to do everything right again and maybe just improve that little bit,” added Daly, who guided Dublin to their first Leinster title in over half a century and almost into the All-Ireland final.
The two McCaffrey brothers were in opposition — John, with the Dubs Stars, and Matthew in the Dublin half-back line — while their dad Sean, was managing the Stars, who produced a sprint finish to take the prize.
On a chilly evening, there was a sharp tempo to the tussle. They were level five times in all, four times in the first half, after which Dublin had the advantage at 0-8 to 0-7.
The second period had hardly warmed up when Ballyboden St Enda’s Paul Ryan rattled the net for the Stars.
His goal came from a trademark free that sped past the timber. Aidan Roche netted the second goal. That put the Stars ahead by a point, and they never looked over their shoulders after that. Two delicious strikes from Conal Keaney enhanced their lead and two more Ryan frees settled it.
SCORERS — Dubs Stars: P Ryan 1-6 (1-5f, 0-1 ’65’), A Roche 1-0, C Keaney 0-2, N McMorrow, J McCaffrey, S Stapleton, P Winters, A Darbey 0-1 each. Dublin: M Quilty 0-3, R O’Dwyer, D Treacy, E Dillon 0-2 each, B Connolly (f), S McGrath, M Schutte, G Whelan 0-1 each.
DUBS STARS — G Maguire; S O’Connor, P Kelly, J Doughan; S Durkin, D Kelly, C Robinson; N McMorrow, J McCaffrey; C Keaney, S Stapleton, P Winters; P Ryan, K O’Reilly, A McGreal. Subs: A Roche for O’Reilly; E Moran for Robinson; G Quinlivan for Stapleton; A Darbey for Winters.
DUBLIN — S Chester; S Timlin, C O’Callaghan, C McCormack; S Hiney, C Crummey, M McCaffrey; K Byrne, M Quilty; B Connolly, R O’Dwyer, S McGrath; D O’Callaghan, D Treacy, M Schutte. Subs: J Boland for Hiney; C Cronin for O’Dwyer; T Devlin for Treacy; E Dillon for O’Callaghan; S McClelland for McCormack L Rushe for Byrne; P Schutte for McCaffrey; G Whelan for McGrath.
Ref — J Brennan (Thomas Davis)
