A brace of goals from Eoghan O'Gara (2-1) propelled Dublin to a 2-14 to 0-13 victory over Louth.

A crowd of 47,738 was at Croke Park for this Round Four Qualifier between the Louth side that was robbed of the Delaney Cup and the new-look Dublin outfit that has regrouped without fuss since their heavy defeat to Meath.

The winners started best and Louth could never recover from their nervous start…

Louth forgot to turn up for the first half and Dublin cantered to a 2-6 to 0-3 interval advantage, with bustling full forward Eoghan O'Gara showing his strength in claiming both majors. The losers didn't score from play in the first half and failed to get anything into their full forward line. Three Brian White frees was the sum total of their scoring before the break.

Dublin bossed the opening quarter to lead by 0-3 to 0-1. It could have been much worse for the visitors but for some uncharacteristically poor shooting from the Brogan brothers.

The atmosphere was electric in Croke Park before throw-in and Dublin went straight on the offensive, with Bernard Brogan dropping a free short to Michael Dara McAuley, whose goal effort was blocked by Paddy Keenan. Stephen Cluxton stepped up to open the scoring from a 45. How often does a goalkeeper get the first score in a championship match?

Alan Brogan followed up with a superb point on two minutes - a dream start for the hosts. Bernard and Alan Brogan were both guilty of early misses as the Sky Blues continued to dominate on the slippery surface. Rattled, Louth couldn't get out of their own half in the opening ten minutes.

Wee County goalkeeper Neil Gallagher lost possession coming out of goal and then conceded a free, which Bernard Brogan converted: 0-3 to 0-0. The match was over as a contest in the eleventh minute when O'Gara ran purposefully at the Louth defence and drove a powerful low shot which somehow evaded Gallagher to hit the net. As subtle as a brick - and every bit as effective!

Louth were getting cleaned out all over the pitch, especially at midfield, but won a close-range free in the 17th minute when McAuley fouled Mark Brennan on the edge of the large square. It was very close to a penalty but the Reds had to be content with a free, which Brian White stroked over.

O'Gara fisted Dublin's eighth wide in the 22nd minute but Bryan Cullen - who produced an outstanding display today - tapped over a beautiful Dublin point after wonderful work from Niall Corkery, who had started the game brilliantly. Cluxton banged over a wrongly-awarded 45, as Louth's day went from bad to worse in the 26th minute. Dublin were snaffling up every breaking ball, while the Wee County just could not get into it.

After a terrible White free, Cullen showed Stephen Fitzpatrick a clean pair of heels to take his second point: 1-6 to 0-1 after half an hour.

In the 33rd minute, O'Gara got out in front of Dessie Finnegan, turned the St Patricks clubman and surged forward to send his shot between Gallagher's legs for his second goal of the match. Louth's response was a White point from a free.

Louth made two changes in first-half injury time, introducing Declan Byrne and Darren Clarke. Adrian Reid had missed most of the first half with a cut head and he was fouled by the Dublin defence each time he ran at them in the closing stages of the half. Another foul on the Mattock Rangers clubman presented White with his third pointed free: 2-6 to 0-3 at the short whistle.

In the second minute of the second half, Louth full forward Shane Lennon was unfortunate to strike the woodwork for the second time. Declan Byrne was then on hand to get their first score from play, but Dubln caught them napping instantly to reply through Ger Brennan. Clarke claimed a fifth Louth score in the 40th minute.

Gallagher saved from McAuley and Louth swept upfield for an Andy McDonnell point (when he had a brief sight of goal) before Cluxton (45) and White (from play) missed chances at both ends. Louth had refused a simple free in front of the posts and were made to pay when Ross McConnell tore through unchallenged to make it 2-8 to 0-6.

Substitute Ronan Carroll won a Louth free just seconds after replacing the out-of-sorts White and Clarke made to mistake from his hands in closing the gap to seven with 22 minutes left. The Dubs always seemed to have a reply up thjeir sleeves and this time it was O'Gara who booted a point.

Lennon got under Reid's high delivery to fist a good point at the end of the third quarter but on this occasion it was Bernard Brogan who retaliated from a free. Paul Flynn and Cullen made it three-in-a-row for Dublin while Keenan frustratingly hit a post at the Hill 16 end of the pitch.

Reds captain Keenan powered through for an excellent point and substitute Derek Maguire popped over another nice score to make it 0-10 to 2-12 with seven minutes remaining. Byrne bagged his second point in the 64th minute.

Dubs replacement Mossie Quinn calmly stroked over a free from the ground to put eight in it with five minutes to go. Keenan and Bernard Brogan traded points in the last minute of normal time and Clarke arrowed over an injury time free as time ran out on luckless Louth's year.

They should have been through to the All-Ireland quarter-finals as Leinster champions but now they will sit back and watch the closing stages of the championship from their sofas, with three counties from the province involved in the last eight.

They will be watching Kildare, Meath and Dublin with more than a passing interest...

Dublin: Stephen Cluxton (0-2); Michael Fitzsimons, Rory O'Carroll, Philip McMahon; Kevin Nolan, Ger Brennan (0-1), Barry Cahill; Ross McConnell (0-1), Michael Dara McAuley; Niall Corkery, Alan Brogan (0-1), Bryan Cullen (0-3); David Henry, Eoghan O'Gara (2-1), Bernard Brogan (0-3). Subs: Paul Flynn (0-1), Conal Keaney, Eamonn Fennell, Darren McGee, Thomas Quinn.

Louth: Neill Gallagher; Eamonn McAuley, Dessie Finnegan, John O'Brien; Ray Finnegan, Mick Fanning, Stephen Fitzpatrick; Paddy Keenan (0-2), Brian White (0-3); Adrian Reid, Mark Brennan, Andy McDonnell (0-1); Colin Judge, Shane Lennon (0-1), JP Rooney. Subs: Declan Byrne (0-2), Darren Clarke (0-3), Ronan Carroll, Derek Maguire (0-1), Derek Crilly. Tweet

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