The promising Greg McEneaney in action for Dublin. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
EirGrid Leinster U20 Football Championship
Longford 0-10 Offaly 0-9
Kildare 2-6 Louth 0-11
Laois 2-12 Wicklow 0-6
Wexford 4-11 Carlow 2-13
Dublin 0-13 Meath 1-7
Senior star Greg McEneaney was to the fore as Dublin scored a significant EirGrid Leinster U-20 FC win, defeating Meath to advance to the semi-finals.
Meath beat Dublin in a Leinster minor final three years ago and went on to collect the All-Ireland title that year, so these two groups had plenty of history.
And with both sides defeating Westmeath beforehand in Leinster's three-team Group 3, whoever won would secure a semi-final place as table toppers.
Dublin ultimately did enough to secure a 0-13 to 1-7 win and will return to action in a fortnight while Meath, having finished second in the group, will be back in action next week against Laois in the quarter-finals.
Cathal O Bric's Meath will rue the eight first-half wides they hit at Parnell Park, allowing Dublin to take a 0-6 to 0-3 half-time lead.
Charlie O'Connor flicked in a goal for Meath three minutes after the restart to briefly level the game.
But Dublin, who have competed in the last 10 Leinster U-20 finals, responded impressively with five of the game's next six points to claim pole position entering the final quarter.
Free-taker Paul Reynolds Hand, Joe Quigley, Luke O'Boyle and Jamie McCarville were all on the mark for the Sky Blues during that purple patch.
Meath kicked three points in a row to reduce the gap to just a single point in the 54th minute but late Dublin scores from Skerries man McEneaney, fresh off his dramatic goal in the National League final, and Quigley eased the hosts to victory.
Meanwhile, in Group 1, Kildare defeated Louth by 2-6 to 0-11 to leapfrog both Louth and Offaly into top spot, nudging out Louth on the head to head.
As a result, Kildare have also qualified for the semi-finals as group winners.
Sam Savage and Oisin Grufferty netted for Kildare, the reigning champions, and they led 2-4 to 0-2 at half-time.
But Louth staged a strong second-half revival and points at the death from Liam Flynn and James Maguire cut the Wee County's deficit to just a point.
Louth's reward for finishing second is a quarter-final place and they will play Wicklow next week.
Longford similarly defeated Offaly by a narrow margin, 0-10 to 0-9, in the other Group 1 game.
In Group 2, quarter-final places were reserved for the top two teams and Wicklow and Laois had already wrapped up those positions after both winning their first two games.
They placed their respective 100 percent records on the line this sevening when they met in Blessington but Laois were comfortable 2-12 to 0-6 winners.
Cillian Maher struck a 23rd minute Laois goal, opening up a 1-4 to 0-1 advantage at that stage and Cathal Lee added their second major four minutes from full-time.