Dublin showed Roscommon no mercy in Croke Park tonight as they hammered them by 2-29 to 0-14 to move to the top of Division One.

The Dubs have now extended their unbeaten run in league and championship to a sensational 35 matches - eclipsing Kerry's 84-year record - and the ease with which they despatched the Rossies to Division Two tonight must have filled all of their potential opponents with trepidation.

The returning Paul Flynn was outstanding, notching 1-6 and bagging the Man of the Match award, but twelve different players got on the scoresheet - including substitute Diarmuid Connolly! - as Jim Gavin's men roared into the record books. Aiming for a fifth successive league title, Dublin move to the top of the Division One table with nine points, while Tyrone, Donegal and Monaghan - all of whom are in action tomorrow - are two points behind.

It was men against boys in the first half as Gavin's increasingly imperious charges built up an eleven-point interval lead, 1-14 to 0-6. 1-12 of the tally came from play, with recalled duo Flynn and Bernard Brogan notching 1-6 between them.

Flynn's thunderbolt to the roof of the Roscommon net in the 14^th minute gave the holders a commanding 1-5 to 0-2 advantage and Eric Lowndes and Niall Scully followed up with points in response to a Diarmuid Murtagh score as they led by seven at the end of the first quarter.

Scully had opened the scoring in the third minute and Paddy Andrews clipped over the second Dubs point but on each occasion Enda Smith replied at the Hill 16 end. The Dubs pulled away with points from Brogan and Dean Rock (two frees) before Flynn punctuated a lovely team move with the score that effectively finished the game as anything resembling a contest.

Flynn and Murtagh traded points before Brogan's third of the night made it 1-9 to 0-4. Brian Fenton steamed through to fist a point and Donie Smith replied before Andrews increased the gap to nine with the break approaching. After Smith mustered another Rossies score, Flynn and Brogan reeled off the last two scores of the opening period.

Rock fisted the first point of the second half and there were further points from Ciaran Reddin - his second - and substitute Conor McHugh after McManamon's goal effort went wide via the woodwork. Murtagh and Flynn shared points and any notions of the Dubs easing up were dispelled by the introduction of Diarmuid Connolly from off the bench!

McHugh's free had the gap up to 15 and a fisted Flynn point made it 1-21 to 0-8 at the three-quarters stage. Cian Connolly's point was cancelled out immediately by McHugh and it all got a little eye-watering after McManamon brilliantly supplied the winners' second goal with an emphatic finish following a determined run 13 minutes from the end.

Springing the likes of Connolly, Jack McCaffrey and Michael Darragh Macauley from the bench, Dublin made a real statement tonight. Who can stop this juggernaut?

Dublin - S Cluxton; P McMahon, M Fitzsimons, D Daly; D Byrne, C O'Sullivan, E Lowndes (0-1); B Fenton (0-2), C Reddin (0-2); P Flynn (1-6), K McManamon (1-1), N Scully (0-2); D Rock (0-3, 2f), P Andrews (0-3), B Brogan (0-3). Subs: S Carthy (0-1) for D Byrne, J McCaffrey (0-1) for D Daly, C McHugh (0-3, 1f) for D Rock, D Connolly (0-1) for B Fenton, M D Macauley for C Reddin, P Mannion for C O'Sullivan.

Roscommon - D O'Malley; D Murray, J McManus, N McInerney; S McDermott, U Harney, R Stack; T Corcoran, T O'Rourke; G Patterson (0-1), C Devaney, E Smith (0-2); D Smith (0-2), D Murtagh (0-3, 1f), C Murtagh (0-2, 1f). Subs: C Compton for T Corcoran, S Killoran (0-1) for U Harney, C Connolly (0-2, 1f) for D Murtagh, B Murtagh for S McDermott, F Cregg for D Smith, N Kilroy (0-1) for C Murtagh.

Referee - C Reilly.

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