Halfway through this Division One tie at Parnell Park yesterday, Dublin's hurlers had already notched up a score of 1-16.

So while Michael O'Grady couldn't have asked for a better league start for his side, Kerry's league future continues to enter visible darkness.

The young and developing side were trampled all over the field for almost the entire 70 minutes, and then travelled the long road home knowing too well that it could have been so much worse.

The Kerry team simply couldn't handle the range and workload of the Dublin forwards, with five of them ending with considerable scores, Tomas McGrane and Kevin Flynn being most lethal of all in their respective corners.

"I have to be happy at the way we played in periods, and sometimes we even played better into the wind," said O'Grady. "The forwards all performed well, especially since three of those - David Henry, Ciaran Brady and Duignan - are more used to playing in the back. Still, our defence was weak at times, and definitely at fault for two of Kerry's goals."

As infrequent as Kerry's scoring was, they still showed glimpses of potential - most significantly through Michael Slattery and Willie Joe Leen - even if it was clear they were always chasing a losing game.

Shane Ryan had popped in Dublin's first goal after just 30 seconds as Eoin Thornton had his opening puck-out sent more or less straight back at him. McGrane showed two early examples of his fine free-taking so that after 10 minutes they were five points clear.

With Ryan controlling the half-forward line, and McGrane and Flynn showing increasing ability, Dublin's lead grew unabated. Kerry upset the trend a little when Padraig Cronin sneaked a goal on the half hour and John Mike Dooley added a second five minutes later, but there was nothing surprising about the 1-16 to 2-4 scoreline at half-time.

There was a slight easing-off period for Dublin in the second half, but in truth, who could blame them. Henry had added their second goal five minutes after the restart and McGrane got the one he deserved by drilling a free straight into the top corner on 55 minutes.

In between, John Joe Canty converted a Kerry penalty from the rebound while Slattery added two more frees. That was about all the joy they had however as Eoin Thornton was forced to pull off at least two late blocks from Flynn.

"To their credit, Kerry kept at us in the second half," added O'Grady, "and confused us a little by moving a lot of players around the field. We're shooting now for a place in these league semi-finals. This is a good start, and looking forward to a tough game with Galway next. We've something like nine competitive games in the next 13 weeks but that's exactly what we want."

For Kerry, beaten by 18 points in their first outing against Clare, one wonders what results like this will do for morale building. Yet Michael O'Halloran, in his first competitive year as manager, wasn't making any excuses. "The effort in the second half is all we can really take out of this really," he said. "The game was over at half-time, but with the scoring average mattering now, you can't afford to let up.

"Still, our striking is off and our fitness is definitely off. We changed the system of play. We haven't concentrated a whole lot on the hurling and the idea is to get the lads as fit as we can right now. But this is not golf you know, there aren't any handicaps at this level."

Dublin: B McLoughlin; J Finnegan, S Power, D McCormack; L Walsh, S Perkins, L O'Donoghue; M Fitzsimons (0-1), D McInerney; D Henry (1-2), C Brady (0-3), S Ryan (1-3); T McGrane (1-10, six frees), S Duignan, K Flynn (0-5). Subs: D Spain for Walsh (34 mins), D Russell for Ryan, G Ennis for Henry (both 61 mins), D McMullan and P Harney for O'Donoghue (both 65 mins).

Kerry: E Thornton; M Hanafin, C Lyons, M Carroll; T Cronin, M McCarthy, A Keane; W J Leen (0-1), C Harty; M Slattery (0-5, four frees), J J Canty (1-0), I Brick (0-1); D Slattery, P Cronin (1- 0), J M Dooley (1-0). Subs: A Cronin for Cronin (22 mins), B Fealy for Carroll (half-time), I Maunsell for Cronin (54 mins).

Referee: B Kelly (Westmeath).