Dublin 4-15
Westmeath 1-9

A hugely impressive Dublin team put Westmeath to the sword with a devastating second half display in last night's Cadbury Leinster U21FC semi-final at O'Moore Park.

Power and pace were the key ingredients in this Dublin performance which marks them out as serious All-Ireland contenders. But before they can start thinking about winning a second All-Ireland in the grade in three years, they must overcome Louth in the Leinster final in two weeks' time.

The scoreline does scant justice to Westmeath who recovered from a disastrous start to level by the 29th minute. But Dublin turned on the style in the second half to run out 15-point winners, with last year's minor star Ciaran Kilkenny producing a man of the match performance in the full forward line.

Jim Gavin's charges made a sensational start to the game with Mark Schutte waltzing through the Westmeath defence for a goal after just 25 seconds. Emmet O Conghaile, who would later retire through injury, added a point before Jack McCaffrey soloed half the length of the pitch before slotting home Dublin's second goal in the third minute.

When Paul Hudson added a free in the sixth minute, Dublin led by 2-2 to 0-0 and the game already looked over. But the shell-shocked Lake County responded with points from Callum McCormack and Seanie Daly before Kelvin Reilly pounced on a goalkeeping error for a goal.

Further points from Alan Stone and John Heslin (from frees) had Pat Flanagan's men level by the 29th minute but, crucially, they couldn't get their noses in front and Dublin grabbed two late points to go into the break leading 2-5 to 1-6.

Westmeath closed the gap to the minimum after the restart and had a chance to level through Ger Egan before the Dubs swept down the field for Hudson to fire home their third goal. That score completely deflated the midlanders and it turned into a rout after Kilkenny - who finished with a personal tally of 1-6 - added their fourth goal.

Dublin - R O'Flaherty; J Smith, K O'Brien, M Concarr; J Kelly, L Fletcher, J McCaffrey (1-0); E O Conghaile (0-1), C Walsh; M Schutte (1-0), G Sweeney (0-1), C Reddin (0-1); P Ryan, C Kilkenny (1-6), P Hudson (1-4). Subs: P O'Higgins for O Conghaile, S George for Concarr, G Seaver (0-1) for Walsh, Concarr for Smith, P Maguire for Ryan.

Westmeath - E Carberry; K Sheridan, D Gavin (0-1), S Gilmore; K Maguire, B Moran, D Malynn; J Heslin (0-3), T English; G Egan, K Reilly (1-1), J Gonoud; S Daly (0-1), A Stone (0-1), C McCormack (0-2). Subs - C Boyle for Gonoud, E Boland for Reilly, E Gorman for Stone, P Fennell for Malynn.

Ref - J Hickey (Carlow).

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