As expected, Brian Dillons got nothing soft from St.Michaels, and they had to work extremely hard for their six point victory. The Blackrock side opened promisingly  and in the opening four minutes they attacked dangerously but ,failed to raise a flag. Then, in the fifth minute, Brian Dillons opened  up the St.Michaels defence which saw full -forward, Cillian Brosnan bursting through and parting the ball to the unmarked Dave O"Leary whose goalbound shot was brilliantly saved  by the St.Michaels "keeper only for the rebound to fall to Darragh Brosnan, who put the ball over the bar for the opening score. This score seemed to settle Brian Dillons and with Tomas Lawrence, Darragh Brosnan and Darren McGrath winning plenty of aerial ball, further points followed from Dave Cremin, from a Dave O"Leary pass, and Cillian Brosnan, from a free,which  pushed them 0-3 to nil ahead after thirteen minutes play. Two minutes later, another fleeting movement, which involved several players, ended with Cillian Brosnan passing to incoming midfielder, Tomas Lawrence, who billowed the back of the net for a great goal for Brian Dillons.... 1-3 to nil after fifteen minutes. Thanks to the great defensive display by the Brian Dillons backline, in which Martin Corbett, Andrew Murphy and Colm O"Connor were particularly prominent, St. Michaels had to wait for twenty minutes for their opening point...1-3 to 0-1, Cillian Brosnan restored Brian Dillons six point advantage with a point ,after twenty-two minutes, and the same player scored a similar score, from a placed ball two minutes later... 1-5 to 0-1. St. Michaels finished the first half in determined fashion, adding two points from placed balls, one from a close-in free and the other from a 45 metre kick, and were prevented from goaling by a smart save from  Paul McCarthy, who had a solid game ,in goal, for Brian Dillons.. Tomas Lawrence closed the first half scoring with a point, in the final minute, to leave Brian Dillons leading, 1-6 to 0-3, at the interval.