Ger Cunningham began his second year in charge of Dublin last night with a comfortable 4-15 to 3-12 win over UCD in the Walsh Cup. 

The Cork native led Dublin to last year's Walsh Cup final before eventually losing to Galway. Cunningham is working with a depleted squad for the Walsh Cup and he hopes to give fringe players the chance to play their way into the National League squad.

"We're just looking at giving people who we brought in an opportunity to put their hand up for selection to see if they can make the panel for the National League. They are good games to get at this time of year. If you weren't playing Walsh Cup games, you would be looking at playing challenge matches."

Dublin's squad was decimated at the start of the year, with almost a full team worth of players still playing with their colleges. Cunningham is just happy to get a strong performance out of his depleted side.

"We are working of a panel of 21 at the moment. We have 14 of our guys playing with colleges in this competition. We have another three or four out with injuries at the moment... It just gives us an opportunity to look at a few players around the place that we have been impressed with in the last couple of months."

Dublin return to action against on Sunday against Antrim in DCU.