Alan Moore impressed for Dublin against Antrim at Parnell Park.
Bord na Mona Walsh Cup
DUBLIN 4-16 ANTRIM 0-17
By Paul Keane at Parnell Park, Dublin
Alan Moore's two-goal blast at Parnell Park eased Dublin to a comfortable Bord na Mona Walsh Cup win, securing their semi-final place next weekend.
Pat Gilroy's side were playing their second game in just over 24 hours having lost 1-26 to 0-12 to hosts Tipperary on Saturday.
They showed some early weariness, but soon found their stride with Paul Crummey and Paul Winters also netting to tee up a last four clash with Davy Fitzgerald's Wexford.
The sides will meet again on February 4 when Antrim host Dublin in Dunloy in Division 1B of the Allianz League.
Antrim, who play next in their league opener against All-Ireland champions Galway on January 28, were led by Neil McManus in attack who hit 11 points in total, all but one of those from frees.
Antrim did all the early attacking and strode five points clear after seven minutes, all of their points coming from placed balls.
McManus got four of those and Ciaran Clarke weighed in with the other though the Saffrons' lead was wiped out within 90 seconds.
Crummey hauled Dublin right back with a goal from close range following good work by Cillian Costello and Crummey added a point just seconds later to reduce the deficit to a point.
Winters levelled it up for at 1-2 to 0-5 moments later and Dublin moved into the lead for the first time in the 11th minute, a position they stayed in.
Dublin hit 1-5 without reply between the seventh and 16th minutes to move 1-5 to 0-5 clear.
Antrim picked off just two points from play in the first-half, through McManus and Conor McCann, and a second Dublin goal in the 26th minute from Winters put significant daylight between the sides.
Winters got his goal after following up on a Moore shot that hit the crossbar and deflected kindly to him.
Dublin led 2-9 to 0-9 at half-time and Moore found the net himself twice in the third quarter. His first came in the 40th minute after a strong run down the right and his second came from the same area four minutes later.
That fourth goal for the Dubs left them 4-10 to 0-12 clear and cruising into the knockout stages of the competition.
Antrim were competitive throughout and continued to pick off points in the final quarter with Nigel Elliott, McManus and Conor Johnston all on the mark.
Dublin closed out the scoring with four points in a row including three from the impressive Robert Mahon who took over the frees though contributed three of his six points overall from play.
Scorers for Dublin: Paul Winters 1-4 (3fs), Alan Moore 2-1, Robert Mahon 0-6 (2fs, 165), Paul Crummey 1-1, Darragh Gray 0-3, Johnny McCaffrey 0-1.
Scorers for Antrim: Neil McManus 0-11 (10fs), Conor Johnston 0-2, Ciaran Clarke 0-1 (f), Conor McCann 0-1, Gerard Walsh 0-1, Nigel Elliott 0-1.
DUBLIN: Gary Maguire; Paddy Smyth, Bill O'Carroll, Cian Hendricken; Shane Barrett, Darren Kelly, Chris Crummey; John McCaffrey, Tomas Connolly; Cillian Costello, Darragh Gray, Paul Crummey; Robert Mahon, Paul Winters, Alan Moore.
Subs: Ronan Smith for Connolly (26), Cian McBride for Winters (45), Sean O Riain for P Crummey (49), Conor Ryan for Costello (51).
ANTRIM: Chris O'Connell; David Kearney, Arron Graffin, Stephen Rooney; Conor McKinley, Joe Maskey, John Dillon; Neil McManus, Conor Johnston; Nigel Elliott, Gerard Walsh, Conor McCann; James McNaughton, Conor Carson, Ciaran Clarke.
Subs: Eoin O'Neill for Carson (49), James Connolly for Clarke (49), Maol Connolly for McCann (57), Conor Boyd for Dillon (65), Daniel McCloskey for Elliott (71).
REFEREE: Patrick Murphy (Carlow).
Kilkenny manager Brian Cody watching the game in Freshford.
A strong second-half display that included two goals from John Walsh eased Kilkenny to victory over Kildare and through to the Bord na Mona Walsh Cup semi-finals.
Brian Cody's side will face Offaly next Sunday in the last four of the competition following wins over Laois last Wednesday and today's 3-18 to 0-8 dismantling of Kildare.
It wasn't all one-way traffic though as the Lilywhites - believed to be facing Kilkenny for the first time in competitive fare at this level - trailed by just 0-9 to 0-5 at half-time.
The experimental Cats were much improved after the restart though and Mullinavat man Walsh's two goals took his tally to 2-6 for the afternoon and eased the holders through to the last four.
Offaly found the going more difficult against Westmeath though overcame their neighbours for the second game running, this time by 1-18 to 0-18.
With just two teams in Group 4, Westmeath came into the encounter with their two-point defeat last weekend in mind though couldn't exact revenge to progress themselves.
Westmeath enjoyed a strong first-half and were 0-14 to 1-7 up thanks to scores from the likes of Paul Greville, Niall Mitchell though Offaly were back level early in the second-half.
Shane Dooley, Thomas Spain and Thomas Geraghty were all on the mark in the second-half for Kevin Martin's Offaly who lived dangerously late on with Westmeath failing to convert a penalty.
Meanwhile, Davy Fitzgerald's Wexford booked their passage to a semi-final clash with Dublin by virtue of a 6-36 to 1-12 win over neighbours Wicklow in Ashford.
