Leinster SHC Round 5
DUBLIN 3-19 GALWAY 0-24
By Paul Keane at Parnell Park, Dublin
Parnell Park proved to be Dublin's fortress yet again as Mattie Kenny's men staged a thrilling late scoring siege to secure their biggest Championship win in several seasons.
Trailing with 66 minutes on the clock, the 2013 Leinster champions looked in real danger of slipping to their second defeat in four games.
But from there they outscored the 2017 All-Ireland winners by five points with captain Chris Crummey blasting the crucial 68th minute goal to extend their summer.
Dublin will now advance to an All-Ireland preliminary round quarter-final tie against the Joe McDonagh Cup winners as the third placed team in Leinster.
Galway's summer, however, is over after a draw between Kilkenny and Wexford elsewhere which ultimately nudged the 2018 Leinster winners into fourth position in the table.
Their supporters at a packed out Parnell Park looked shell-shocked when they heard the news having put themselves in a strong position to win just minutes earlier.
The venue has been kind to Dublin all year with Kenny's side undefeated so far in the league and Championship, beating Waterford there during the league and drawing with Wexford more recently.
It was thrill-a-minute stuff at the north-Dublin ground throughout with the sides level a whopping 17 times and eight times in the first-half alone.
The hits were huge in an ultra intense affair and two key players picked up early injuries that forced them off.
Dublin full-back Eoghan O'Donnell made way after just 15 minutes and Conor Whelan trudged off for Galway 11 minutes later.
That left Galway without arguably their two best forwards in Whelan and long-term injury victim Joe Canning, though Canning would eventually come on and strike two points.
Galway's top scorer Cathal Mannion picked up the scoring slack for the westerners and drilled six first-half points, five of those coming from frees.
Whelan grabbed one before making way too while Jason Flynn and Brian Concannon were also on the mark.
But it was virtually score for score as Dublin asked plenty of questions at the other end with Cian Boland on form initially.
O'Rorke and Danny Sutcliffe also pointed and the scores were tied at 0-8 to 0-8 when Dublin grabbed their opening goal in the 29th minute.
It was a trademark poacher's strike from Dillon who sped clear and slotted home with an improvised finish.
But Galway responded with four points in a row from Mannion, Colm Callanan and David Burke to lead narrowly at half-time, 0-12 to 1-08.
It remained just as tight for the majority of the second-half with the game continuing in that score-for-score pattern.
Sean Moran struck Dublin's second goal from a penalty just after the restart but Galway were boosted by Canning's introduction after long-term injury and he scored from his first play, adding another.
Galway were in the driving seat approaching the finish line but just couldn't finish it off and were powerless to prevent that brilliant late Dublin charge.
Dublin scorers: Oisin O'Rorke 0-9 (0-5f, 0-01 65), Eamon Dillon 1-1, Sean Moran 1-0 (1-0 pen), Chris Crummey 1-0, Conal Keaney 0-3, Danny Sutcliffe 0-2, Cian Boland 0-2, Liam Rushe 0-1, Alan Nolan 0-1.
Galway scorers: Cathal Mannion 0-9 (0-7f), David Burke 0-3, Jason Flynn 0-3, Joe Canning 0-2, Colm Callanan 0-1 (0-1f), Johnny Coen 0-1, David Glennon 0-1, Conor Whelan 0-1, Brian Concannon 0-1, Joseph Cooney 0-1, Padraic Mannion 0-1.
DUBLIN: Alan Nolan; Paddy Smyth, Eoghan O'Donnell, Shane Barrett; Sean Moran, Cian Hendricken, Chris Crummey; Sean Treacy, Tom Connolly; Conal Keaney, Cian Boland, Danny Sutcliffe; Liam Rushe, Oisin O'Rorke, Eamon Dillon. Subs: James Madden for O'Donnell (15), Fergal Whitely for Boland (47), Daire Grey for Hendricken (51), Darragh O'Connell for Treacy (57), Ronan Hayes for Rushe (65).
GALWAY: Colm Callanan; Darren Morrissey, Daithi Burke, Aidan Harte; Padraic Mannion, Joseph Cooney, Gearoid McInerney; Johnny Coen, David Burke; Jonathan Glynn, Cathal Mannion, Adrian Tuohey; Brian Concannon, Jason Flynn, Conor Whelan. Subs: David Glennon for Whelan (26), Joe Canning for Tuohey (47), Niall Burke for Concannon (54), Thomas Monaghan for Niall Burke (61), Sean Linnane for Coen (70).
Referee: Cathal McAllister (Cork).
