Dalton joined the Fr. O'Neill's club at a young age and played in all grades at juvenile and underage levels. On 16 September 2013, he was at right wing-forward when Fr. O'Neill's defeated Newcestown by 4-14 to 5-10 to win the Cork Premier 2 MHC title.
Dalton subsequently progressed onto the Fr. O'Neill's under-21 team. On 8 December 2018, he gave the "performance of a lifetime" for Fr. O'Neill's when he scored 0-15, including twelve from frees, in 3-24 to 4-18 defeat of Midleton to win the Cork Premier Under-21 Championship title.[1]
On 22 October 2016, Dalton scored six points from full-forward when Fr. O'Neill's drew with Kildorrery in the Cork Intermediate Championship final.[2] The replay a week later also saw Dalton top score for the team with 1-08 in a 1-18 to 1-14 victory.[3]
On 20 October 2019, Dalton played in a third successive county final. Lining out at full-forward, he top scored for the team with 1-07 and collected a third successive winners' medal after the 2-17 to 1-16 defeat of Glen Rovers.[8] Dalton was also the championship's top scorer with 3-55.
Cork
Minor and under-21
Dalton first played for Cork at minor level on 8 April 2015 in a 2-20 to 1-13 Munster Championship defeat of Limerick.[9] An anomaly in the championship format saw Cork face the same opposition in the semi-final, with Limerick reversing the result and knocking Dalton's team out of the championship.[10]
On 13 July 2017, Dalton made his first appearance for the Cork under-21 hurling team, scoring 1-12, including a late penalty, in Cork's one-point defeat of Waterford.[11]
Dalton won a Munster Championship medal on 4 July 2018, after scoring seven points in Cork's 2-23 to 1-13 defeat of Tipperary in the final.[12] A knee injury in the subsequent All-Ireland semi-final defeat of Wexford threatened to end his championship campaign.[13] On 26 August 2018, Dalton scored five points from frees in a 3-13 to 1-16 All-Ireland final defeat by Tipperary in what was his last game in the grade.[14] Dalton was later nominated for the Team of the Year.[15]
Senior
Dalton was added to the extended training panel of the Cork senior team in late 2016.[16] He made his first competitive appearance as goalkeeper on 25 January 2017 and scored two long-range points from frees in Cork's 0-19 to 0-15 Munster League defeat of Clare.[17]
On 27 January 2019, Dalton made his first National Hurling League appearance at centre-forward in a 2-18 to 0-17 defeat by Kilkenny at Nowlan Park.[18] On 13 February, it was announced that he faced a period on the sidelines following a knee operation.[19]
