Dublin cruise to impressive victory over Westmeath
Aaron Byrne was the star for the Dubs as he scored a goal in each half to set Dublin up for victory.
Byrne’s first goal arrived on 11 minutes when the sides were level at 0-2 each, the Dublin full forward firing to the net from a rebound after Westmeath goalkeeper Kevin Fagan had saved Byrne’s initial effort.
Dublin went on to dominate the first half and led by 1-6 to 0-4 at the break, Darren Giles scoring two late points for Westmeath.
A far superior Dublin side again dominated the second half, although they continued to drop too many balls into the Westmeath goalkeeper’s hands.
Dessie Farrell’s side finished the game very strongly and in the final ten minutes points from Eoin Murchan and Chirs Sallier and two each from Con O’Callagah and Colm Basquel, as well as well taken goal by Aaron Byrne, sealed a very comfortable victory for an impressive Dublin side.
A Byrne 2-3, C O’Callaghan 0-5 all frees, C Basquel 0-2, C Murphy 0-1, G O’Reilly 0-1, E Murchan 0-1, C Sallier 0-1.
D Giles 0-2 (0-1 free), D Conway 0-1, R O’Toole 0-1, N Mitchell 0-1 free, C Shanley 0-1.
E Comerford; E Murchan, C O’Shea, D Byrne; S Clayton, S McMahon, B Howard; A Foley, C Murphy; G O’Reilly, C O’Callaghan, S Bolger; S Smith, A Byrne, T Fox.
C Basquel for S Bolger (half time), C Sallier for S Smith (41 minutes), D Gavin for G O’Reilly (48 mins), A Elliott for T Fox (54 mins), D McIllgorm for C O’Callaghan (59 mins).
Westmeath: K Fagan; P Murray, R Wallace, B Sayeh; D Conway, M Kelly, M Darling; N Mitchell, L O’Reilly; S Clavin, R O’Toole, E O’Brien; J Kearney, S Ducan, D Giles.
I McGovern for D Conway (half time), C Shanley for E O’Brien (half time), G Murray for J Kearney (35 mins), C Dillon for M Kelly (35 mins), R Curley for S Clavin (51 mins), T Adamson for R O’Toole (51 mins).
Davey Moore (Laois).
