Dublin are through to yet another Leinster final after overcoming a poor Kildare challenge at Croke Park, 5-18 to 0-14.

Bernard Brogan and Diarmuid Connolly both netted twice for the hosts, while Dean Rock slotted their opening goal early in the first half. The official attendance at HQ today was 50,324 and they witnessed another ominous exhibition as the Dubs sealed a July 12th date with Westmeath in the provincial decider.

Playing into The Hill, the winners completely bossed the opening half to take a huge 3-10 to 0-6 interval lead, with Rock, Brogan and  Connolly each hitting the net and all but one point of their first-half tally coming from play. 4-14 of their final total was from play.

It was all too easy for the defending champions, who were in total control, picking off scores at will and giving the impression that they could move up a few more gears if they had to.

Emmet Bolton got forward from centre back to kick the lead point for the Lilywhites inside 17 seconds. Paul Flynn appeared to have hammered over the equaliser in the second minute - the umpires reached for their flag but referee David Coldrick decided to consult Hawk-Eye, who ruled that the ball had gone wide.

Ciaran Kilkenny levelled in the sixth minute after Jonny Cooper had picked Padraig Fogarty's pocket as the No.15 was about to shoot for goal. Kilkenny's second point of the match was cancelled out by one from Padraig O'Neill.

In the ninth minute, Dublin got through for the simplest of goals: Philly McMahon picked out Rock with a low pass and the corner forward's mis-hit shot bobbled across the line to the empty net. Connolly chipped over off his left to make it 1-3 to 0-2.

Rory O'Carroll and Michael Darragh MacAuley had come into the Dubs starting XV in place of David Byrne and Darren Daly, while Kildare started as selected. The Dubs continued to pour forward and bagged their second major in the 13th minute: Bernard Brogan latched onto the loose ball and smashed an unstoppable left-footed drive over the line. Connolly was lying behind the line after trying to get on the end of Jack McCaffrey's centre and the ball caught him in the face but no harm was done as he dusted himself down and got up to kick a fifth Dubs point shortly afterwards.

Before that, Brogan added a trademark point on the turn on 15 minutes: 2-4 to 0-2. Kilkenny fired his third point in the 20th minute as the holders assumed a massive ten-point lead. The Castleknock clubman was on fire and he floated over his fourth score from the right wing before Cathal McNally blasted a Kildare goal chance to the left and wide.

McNally elected to fist a point when he got his next sight of goal - Kildare's first score in some 17 minutes - and Padraig Fogarty chipped over a '45' to close the gap to nine, 2-7 to 0-4. A Rock shot rebounded to safety off the top of the crossbar and Brogan traded scores with Eoghan O'Flaherty as the holders led by 2-8 to 0-5 after 32 minutes.

McMahon blazed a shot a couple of feet over the crossbar and Rock popped over the simplest of frees as Jim Gavin's men  moved eleven points clear. Fogarty was placed by Gary White and duly knocked over a sixth Kildare score. However, in first-half injury time, Connolly gave Mark Donnellan the eyes and rolled a delightful shot to the bottom right corner of the Kildare net to leave 13 points between the teams at the short whistle.

With the game over as any sort of meaningful contest, the second half had all the intensity of a challenge match.

Donnellan had to be sharp to deny Brogan a fourth Dubs goal upon the restart; Paul Cribbin clipped over the first point of the second half four minutes it. Alan Smith cancelled out a Rock free and O'Flaherty's free on 46 minutes closed the gap to eleven, 3-11 to 0-9.

Substitute Niall Kelly hit Kildare's tenth point after Donnellan had saved sell from Dubs sub James McCarthy. In the 50th minute, O'Flaherty stepped inside to kick over a third successive Kildare point but Rock interjected with another converted free.

Sub Alan Brogan helped himself to a facile brace before O'Flaherty chipped over a soft Kildare free from in front of the posts and the latest ridiculous skirmish broke out - the sort of childish nonsense that has become part and parcel of gaelic football. Alan Brogan brought class back to proceedings with his third score!

Bernard Brogan brought his haul to 1-3 and in the process made it 3-16 to 0-12 with nine minutes to go. Donnellan was black-carded on 62 minutes for hauling down Rock as he was about to pull the trigger; his replacement Colin Heeney was powerless to prevent Connolly from rifling the resultant penalty to the bottom corner of the Kildare net as the gap became a gulf of 16 points.

Brogan palmed his second goal to the net after sub Paddy Andrews had put it on a plate for him on 67 minutes; O'Neill's stunning point at the other end barely raised a cheer. Connolly's 70th-minute point restored the Dubs' 18-point advantage.

Rock tapped over a last-gasp free to complete the rout as the holders advanced to their tenth Leinster final in eleven years and the Liywhites slipped red-faced into the Qualifiers.

Dublin - S Cluxton; P McMahon (0-1), R O'Carroll, J Cooper; J Small, C O'Sullivan, J McCaffrey; B Fenton, M D Macauley; P Flynn, K McManamon, C Kilkenny (0-4); D Rock (1-4, 0-4f), D Connolly (2-3), B Brogan (2-3). Subs: J McCarthy for J Small, A Brogan (0-3) for K McManamon, P Andrews for P Flynn, M Fitzsimons for R O'Carroll, E O Conghaile for B Fenton, D Daly for C O'Sullivan.

Kildare - M Donnellan; O Lyons, M O'Grady, C Fitzpatrick; K Murnaghan, E Doyle, E Bolton (0-1); G White, P Cribbin (0-1); P O'Neill (0-2), E O'Flaherty (0-4, 2f), C McNally (0-1); A Smith (0-1), P Fogarty (0-3, 1f), E Callaghan. Subs: N Kelly (0-1) for E Callaghan, T Moolick for G White, H Lynch for C McNally, C Heeney for M Donnellan (BC), F Dowling for E Bolton.

Referee - D Coldrick.

Tweet

Most Read Stories