Dublin 0-22 0-15 Antrim

Dublin's Joey Boland tries to burst away from Antrim's Karl Stewart

Dublin halted Antrim's early-season gallop by claiming a seven-point win in Sunday's Allianz NHL Division 1A opener at Parnell Park.

The sides were level at 0-4 apiece after 15 minutes but a succession of points by Stuart Mullen helped the Dubs move 0-12 to 0-7 ahead by the interval.

Dublin extended their lead to 0-15 to 0-7 and continued to dominate as they pushed on to a 0-18 to 0-9 advantage.

Antrim reduced the margin but Dublin were already out of sight.

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Stuart Mullen, not even included in the Dubs original starting line-up, hit 11 points for Dublin while Liam Watson top-scored for the Saffrons with nine points.

The Saffrons' last realistic chance was with 10 minutes to go when the Dublin goalkeeper Gary Maguire made a fantastic save to deny Neil McManus which kept the home side 0-20 to 0-13 ahead.

McManus, Watson and Paddy Magill were all on target for Antrim early on as they stayed in touch with the Dubs.

However, four points from free-taker Mullen and a Declan Coulter score helped Dublin move 0-9 to 0-4 ahead.

Mullen grabbed six of Dublin's first-half scores as they led 0-12 to 0-7 at the interval.

Antrim needed to make a fast start to the second half but instead Mullen (two) and Declan Coulter tagged on immediate points to extend the Dubs' lead to eight.

The introduction of Michael McCambridge and Donal McNaughton did give Antrim a more solid look but Dublin were still able to extend their lead to 0-18 to 0-9.

Three points from Liam Watson and an Eddie McCluskey score gave Antrim a glimmer of hope as they reduced Dublin's lead to 0-19 to 0-13.

Ryan McGarry's brilliant save to deny David O'Callaghan kept Antrim in the game.

The Saffrons then had a great goal chance of their own but the Dublin goalkeeper made a magnificent save to deny McManus.

That was effectively Antrim's last chance as the Dubs went on to claim two valuable league points.