Dublin crushed Wexford by 3-23 to 0-9 to capture their fourth consecutive provincial crown in front of 80,000 spectators at Croke Park. It was inevitable that Alan Brogan would collect the Delaney Cup from the early moments of the second half as the men in blue took complete control of the match. Wexford's big day out at Headquarters turned into a horror show as Dublin ripped them apart in a one-sided second half. The thumping 23-point winners had the better of the first half but they were unable to shake the resilient Slaneysiders off during that period and the gap at the break was a mere three points, 0-10 to 0-7. The defending champions looked like they might pull away more than once in the first half but Wexford were kept in touch by Ciaran Lyng's frees and sporadic flashes of Mattie Forde's brilliance, when they managed to get their All Star into the action. Brogan beat Niall Murphy and drew Dublin level with a stunning curling finish off his left foot in the sixth minute after Forde had defied the Hill by driving an excellent opening point between the posts at that end into a sea of blue. Ciaran Lyng restored the Model County's lead with a free on eight minute, making little of a cacophony of catcalls and whistles from Dublin's followers to find the target. A minute later, surprise full back Collie Moran denied Lyng a goal with a vital diving block after Wexford worked a free in. In the eleventh minute, Mossie Quinn floated over a dubious free from the left wing when Murphy was harshly adjudged to have fouled Brogan. It had been all Dublin in the early minutes and their captain struck a post, presenting Diarmuid Connolly with a half chance of a goal from the rebound, but the moment was gone after the smooth St Vincent's clubman hesitated for a fraction of a second. Conal Keaney also missed a first-minute opportunity for the Dubs and Wexford's Thomas Howlin escaped censor when he appeared to elbow Ciaran Whelan around the mouth in the 13th minute, but the towering Dublin midfielder made the most of the incident. Keaney made amends for his miss when he drove a 15th-minute free from the hands majestically through the middle of the posts to re-establish Dublin's lead. The fine lines and margins that make all the difference in sport were apparent when Stephen Cluxton came off his line to block Forde's flick from the dropping ball and, like Keaney, Connolly also redeemed himself when breezing inside his man to make it 0-4 to 0-2 with 16 minutes played. A nice point after tidy play from Moran and Brogan. Lyng got Wexford's first score in eleven minutes from a routine free in front of the posts after the inexperienced Kevin Nolan was penalised for an innocuous tap on Redmond Barry's shoulder and the ball was moved forward for protesting. Frustrating for Dublin. Jason Sherlock took a Dublin point after wonderful team play in the 22nd minute and the same player slotted over a fantastic point off his left foot within a minute. Rookie back Nolan was already on a yellow card and a flash of black and he was replaced by Paul Casey in the 25th minute, seconds after the workaholic Shane Ryan's mighty solo point had made it 0-7 to 0-3 in favour of the rampant hosts. The next points went to Lyng (free) and the slippery Brogan as the Metropolitans' four-point lead became double scores. Forde (with another magnificent kick) and Quinn (free) traded points just after the half-hour mark and Eric Bradley then blasted over an impressive point at the end of excellent approach play involving the ever-willing Forde and centre back David Murphy. Lyng's fourth free of the evening, again curled radar-like inside the far post off his uncanny left foot, closed the gap to two. Dublin were fortunate in the last minute of the half, when a debateable free was awarded to Ryan and Keaney's kick appeared to drift outside the post. But the umpire on the other post reached for his white flag and the score stood. The short whistle sounded with three between them and Wexford couldn't complain. It was all still to play for and neither side looked especially impressive in the opening 35(+4) minutes. But Dublin would blitz their unfashionable opponents from there to the final whistle. A stupid foul presented Quinn with a gift from a free in the first minute of the second half and Whelan should have extended the differential on 38 minutes but his shot on the run went outside the post. Connolly pointed via a post after Whelan soared to collect possession from the Wexford kick-out and located his No.10 via Ryan. Cluxton did well to get to the ball before PJ Banville and deny the full forward a flick to the net and Paul Caffrey's men powered six points ahead, 0-13 to 0-7, when Quinn tapped over the softest of frees following a phantom foul on Sherlock. Cluxton stood firm between the Dublin posts again nine minutes after the turnaround and Bradley's shot went wide as the Model County's challenge disintegrated. Sherlock was definitely fouled by an undisciplined sandwich tackle on 46 minutes and Keaney's finish from the free was a formality, 0-14 to 0-7. Game Over. Dublin's fifth consecutive point of the second half arrived courtesy of the persistently problematic Sherlock - still looking as fleet-footed as ever in his 14th championship campaign - and it was a nine-point game when Connolly nonchalantly clipped over a casual point. The opening goal arrived in the 16th minute of the second half. Brogan slipped superbly past his man and his unselfish pass found the deceptively-deadly Connolly, who stepped inside and slammed an unstoppable low shot to the net. A minute later, Brogan cut the Wexford rearguard open again but his left-foot goal effort was sliced and it went outside the post. Still, with seven successive scores and 1-6 in total during the third quarter, the Sky Blues had stormed into an unassailable 1-16 to 1-7 lead. Any lingering hopes of an unlikely Wexford revival were strangled when Brogan cut in from an acute angle and hit an exquisite goal along the ground into the net. What a score! Keaney knocked over a point and the handicap bet looked like the biggest joke ever as the provincial champions of the previous three seasons led by a whopping 16 points, 2-17 to 0-7. In the 60th minute, Mark Vaughan found the net with his first contribution after being sprung from the bench. When the ball broke to the bleach-headed assassin, his miscued shot went through the legs of the unlucky Anthony Masterson. Barry bagged Wexford's first score in over half an hour of play when his 61st-minute effort was deflected over the bar. Immediately, Barry Cahill got on the end of Vaughan's pass to fist a point and restore the 19-point gap. Brogan, Keaney (2), Quinn and Moran completed the Dublin account to round off a nightmare day for Wexford, whose second score of the half arrived off the outside of Bradley's right foot. Jason Ryan's men have a lot of work to do to pick themselves up for the qualifiers, while Dublin go into the All-Ireland quarter-finals on a real high. The last time the Dubs put four Leinster SFCs back to back, in 1995, they ended the year with Sam a welcome guest in the capital. Dublin - S Cluxton; D Henry, P Griffin, C Moran (0-1); K Nolan, B Cullen, B Cahill (0-1); C Whelan, S Ryan (0-1); D Connolly (1-3), J Sherlock (0-3), K Bonner; A Brogan (1-4, 1 '45), C Keaney (0-6, 4f), T Quinn (0-4, 4f). Subs - P Casey for Nolan, P Flynn for Bonner, M Vaughan (1-0) for Connolly, R McConnell for Griffin, D Murray for Sherlock. Wexford - A Masterson; N Murphy, P Wallace, B Malone; A Morrissey, D Murphy, C Morris; T Howlin, B Doyle; R Barry (0-1), E Bradley (0-2), A Flynn; C Lyng (0-4, 4f), PJ Banville, M Forde (0-2). Subs - P Colfer for Doyle, D Walsh for N Murphy, R Stafford for Howlin, S Roche for Flynn, C Byrne for Banville. Ref - G Kinneavy (Galway) Tweet

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