Dublin are Leinster champions for the 57^th time after cruising past Laois in the sapping Croke Park sunshine, 1-25 to 0-10.

On a weekend of lop-sided provincial deciders, the rampant Dubs had 18 points to spare, two less than their average winning margin in this year's one-horse-race Leinster championship.

Jim Gavin's side join Galway, Donegal and Kerry in the inaugural Super 8s, where hopefully we'll see some more competitive fare than this. Meanwhile, Laois' season is not yet over as they go into the fourth round of the Qualifiers and could yet reach the new-look quarter-final phase.

The Division Four winners were competitive for 30 minutes; then the Division One winners blew them away…

The All-Ireland champions had young Evan Comerford deputising between the posts for injured captain Stephen Cluxton, becoming the first man in 14 years other than Cluxton to start a championship match in goal for the Dubs. But the Ballymun Kickhams clubman was not troubled on his first championship start such was his side's complete dominance, even though they never got out of second gear.

Ciaran Kilkenny's early goal at the Hill 16 end ensured the red-hot favourites of a six-point interval advantage, 1-8 to 0-5.

With barely three minutes on the clock, Eric Lowndes' excellent delivery picked out Kilkenny loitering with intent on the edge of the Laois square and the Dublin playmaker held off his man before tuning and drilling a low shot to the net.

The warning signs were there 60 seconds earlier when Graham Brody was called into action to deny Con O'Callaghan. Brody had to get down to make another save from O'Callaghan before Dean Rock swept over the holders' first point from a seventh-minute free, which was brilliantly cancelled out by Alan Farrell from distance.

They may have started with a swagger but the hosts completely lost their way briefly thereafter, and were guilty of a series of poor wides while, in contrast, the O'Moore County drew level with four unanswered points, Donie Kingston adding three nice scores to Farrell's strike.

Dublin's Jonny Cooper lifts the Delaney Cup. ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne.

Kilkenny restored the Dubs' lead and Paul Mannion dragged a 21^st-minutle penalty wide before Rock clipped over a couple of frees either side of a Farrell reply to leave two points between the sides with half an hour played, 1-4 to 0-5.

Rock was happy enough to fist a close-range point after the Laois rearguard was torn open once more and - as he seems to do in every game - midfielder Bryan Fenton followed up with a trademark point from out the field … an absolutely beautiful score.

Brody was called upon again to help O'Callaghan's deft left-footed lob over the bar as the winners moved ahead by double scores in the stroke of 35 minutes, 1-7 to 0-5. Paddy Andrews closed the first-half scoring, electing to fire over a point rather than picking out a team-mate with an open goal. Dublin are probably the only team in the country who can afford to do things like this.

O'Callaghan and Kieran Lillis swapped points upon the restart and Rock drilled over a trickier free than some of the ones he missed before the break. It was an eight-point game when Rock despatched a free from the 45-yard line straight in front of the Davin End posts on 41 minutes; Andrews angled over a lovely score from play seconds later, following a lung-bursting surge from Fenton.

Nine minutes into the second half, substitute Jack McCaffrey sprinted through the Laois defence but struck his shot straight at Brody when a second Dublin goal looked almost inevitable; Rock converted the accruing '45', cancelling out a Kingston free. It was a ten-point match with 20 minutes remaining, 1-14 to 0-7, thanks to substitute Cormac Costello.

Kilkenny, Mannion, Rock and Costello arrowed over four more as the favourites cantered towards their eighth successive Delaney Cup and 13^th in 14 years. The winners had substitute John Small dismissed with a straight red card for inadvertently slapping Evan O'Carroll in the face 13 minutes from the end of a painfully one-sided encounter, but this would make no difference to anything.

McCaffrey was foiled by Laois' sub goalkeeper Eoin Kehoe but Rock popped over a 19^th Dublin point on the hour as they eased 15 clear at their absolute ease. Niall Scully became the sixth of Dublin's starting forwards to register, knocking over their eighth successive score; more points ensued from Footballer of the Year-elect Kilkenny and Costello.

Two minutes from time, O'Carroll landed his side's first score in 23 minutes, but Costello - his fourth - and Brian Howard added to the holders' rising tally before substitute Gary Walsh fired over a brace of consolation points. Fenton closed the scoring with his second on the stroke of the final whistle, which mercifully put us all out of our misery.

Stand-in captain Jonny Cooper collected the familiar silverware at the end of the procession.

Dublin - E Comerford; E Lowndes, P McMahon, M Fitzsimons; J McCarthy (0-1), J Cooper, B Howard (0-1); B Fenton (0-1), M D Macauley; N Scully (0-1), C O'Callaghan (0-2), C Kilkenny (1-4); P Mannion (0-1), D Rock (0-8, 5f, 1'45), P Andrews (0-2). Subs: J McCaffrey for E Lowndes, C Costello (0-4) for P Andrews, J Small for M D Macauley, P Flynn for C O'Callaghan, D Daly for P Mannion, C McHugh for D Rock.

Laois - G Brody; D Strong, M Timmons, G Dillon; F Crowley, C Begley, T Collins; J O'Loughlin, K Lillis (0-1); A Farrell (0-2), P Kingston, N Donoher; E O'Carroll (0-1), D Kingston (0-4, 2f), D O'Connor. Subs: B Carroll for N Donoher, R Munnelly for F Crowley, E Keogh for G Brody, D Holland for D Strong, B Glynn for A Farrell, G Walsh (0-2) for P Kingston.

Referee - B Cassidy.

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