Leinster SFC: Dublin defeat old rivals
Bernard Brogan makes a remarkable catch at Croke Park.
Leinster SFC Semi-Final
Dublin 0-21 Meath 0-11
By Paul Keane at Croke Park
A strong second-half performance from Dublin at Croke Park eased the All-Ireland holders through to a sixth consecutive Leinster football final.
Dean Rock's 10-point haul was impressive with six of those coming in the second-half when they pulled clear of a Meath side that had battled gamely in the opening period.
It was all too easy for Jim Gavin's Sky Blues after the break as they outscored their neighbours and old rivals by 0-10 to 0-3 to secure a July 17 provincial final showdown with Westmeath.
That will be a repeat of last year's final and Dublin will be favourites for another win in what will be their 11th Leinster decider in 12 seasons.
Diarmuid Connolly scored four points from play for Dublin while Bernard Brogan was lively also, kicking three points before making way for Paul Mannion.
Meath need to refocus now with a testing trip to Derry on the horizon in the qualifiers. Mick O'Dowd's side at least gave Dublin a little to think about in the first-half.
Cillian O Sullivan and Cian O Sullivan during the Leinster SFC clash at Croke Park.
There were 16 points between the teams in the 2014 final and Meath were desperate to close that gap and put up more of a fight.
They opened brightly and moved 0-3 to 0-1 ahead after nine minutes thanks to points from Graham Reilly and Cillian O'Sullivan.
Dublin responded with three points in a row, but the old rivals were back level at 0-4 to 0-4 in the 18th minute, setting in train an enjoyable back and forth of scoring.
The scores came a little easier to Dublin and Connolly showed his class with back to back beauties from long range.
Paul Flynn weighed in with a brace of scores also and Dublin deservedly led 0-11 to 0-8 at half-time.
Meath took heart from Mickey Newman's strong kicking from placed balls and he curled over three frees in the first-half to keep them in it.
But Meath were wasteful early in the second-half with Newman kicking two frees wide when they needed to putting pressure on the Dubs.
Meath manager Mick O Dowd.
Dublin punished them with four more Rock scores and Brogan's third point of the afternoon to take an ominous 0-16 to 0-9 lead.
It was all Dublin for the last 20 minutes or so and they increased their lead with points from Rock, Connolly and substitute Mannion to win with 10 to spare.
Scorers for Dublin: D Rock 0-10 (9fs), D Connolly 0-4, B Brogan 0-3, P Flynn 0-2, B Fenton 0-1, P Mannion 0-1.
Scorers for Meath: M Newman 0-4 (3fs), G Reilly 0-3, C O'Sullivan 0-2 (1f), E Wallace 0-1, R Jones 0-1.
Dublin: S Cluxton; David Byrne, J Cooper, P McMahon; J Small, C O'Sullivan, J McCarthy; B Fenton, D Bastick; P Flynn, C Kilkenny, D Connolly; K McManamon, D Rock, B Brogan.
Subs: MD Macauley for Bastick (h/t), P Mannion for Brogan (53), P Andrews for MacManamon (58), E Lowndes for Small (60), M Fitzsimons for O'Sullivan (63), C O'Callaghan for Flynn (67).
Meath: P O'Rourke; D Keogan, M Burke, D Smyth; A Douglas, D Tobin, C O'Brien; H Rooney, A Tormey; E Wallace, G Reilly, P Harnan; M Newman, C O'Sullivan, D McDonagh.
Subs: R Jones for Tormey (53), S Lavin for Wallace (55), S Tobin for McDonagh (60), J Wallace for Reilly (63), C Finn for Douglas (67), B McMahon for O'Sullivan (68). J Wallace (BC 76).
Referee: R Hickey (Clare).
