DUBLIN  1-22 WESTMEATH 0-9 

Dublin overwhelmed Westmeath with a show of strength, pace and accuracy in Saturday night’s Leinster SFC opener at Croke Park.

Apart from a brief Westmeath revival midway through the half, when the Dubs looked to have switched off having built up an 0-8 to 0-0 lead after 22 minutes, it was all too easy for the Dubs as they prepare for a provnicial semi-final showdown with Kildare on June 30.

Westmeath suffered a cruel pre-match blow with the withdrawal of ace attacker Dessie Dolan with a hamstring injury, and it was clear from a very early stage that their offensive firepower came nowhere close to matching that of the Dubs.

Bernard Brogan and Paddy Andrews shared a seven-point tally as the Dubs seized control, leading by 0-12 to 0-4 at the interval, with John Heslin hitting 0-3 from frees for Westmeath. Indeed the Dubs had raced into an eight point lead before Westmeath registered their first score from Denis Glennon in the 24th minute .

Brogan, one of nine Dublin scorers, finished with seven points, and their 16-point winning margin would have been greater had Diarmuid Connolly taken just one of his three golden goal-scoring chances, before Paddy Andrews blasted to the net in the 69th minute after an excellent assist from Dean Rock.

– A minutes silence was observed before the game started for Noel Curran, former Meath footballer and father of Dublin legend Curran.

SCORERS — Dublin: B Brogan 0-7 (0-5f), P Andrews 1-3; P Flynn, D Connolly 0-3; D Rock 0-2 (0-1f); C O’Sullivan, P Mannion, J McCaffrey, C Kilkenny 0-1 each. Westmeath: J Heslin 0-5 (0-5f); D Glennon 0-2; K Martin, D Corroon 0-1.

DUBLIN: S Cluxton; D Daly, R O’Carroll, J Cooper; J McCarthy, G Brennan, J McCaffrey; MD Macauley, C O’Sullivan; P Flynn, C Kilkenny, D Connolly; P Mannion, P Andrews, B Brogan. Subs: K O’Brien for Daly (44); N Devereux for McCarthy (49); D Rock for Mannion (54); D Bastick for Macauley (55); C Costello for Brogan (61).

WESTMEATH: G Connaughton; M McCallon, K Gavin, K Maguire; D Harte, P Sharry, J Gaffey; D Duffy, J Heslin; K Martin, C McCormack, J Dolan; G Egan, D Glennon, C Curley. Subs: D Daly for Duffy, D Dolan for Harte (48), D Corroon for Curey (48); P Bannon for Egan (61); A Purcell for McCallon (65).

REF: E Kinsella (Laois).

ATTENDANCE: 33,008.