Assured Dublin flex their muscles

Dublin 3-21 Westmeath 0-11:A COUPLE of years ago Dublin and Westmeath came here to Portlaoise and played hurling as the elements played practical jokes on the notion of summertime. Westmeath aquaplaned to victory.

Yesterday the wind howled across the heath and though Dublin huffed and puffed for a long time, they flexed their muscles in the second half for an assured win which suggests that they are still on track to consummate the promise of their underage revolution.

Westmeath played with the wind at their backs in the first half, an advantage which was buttressed when their best player Brendan Murtagh was sprung form the bench with just over 20 minutes gone.

Murtagh arrived with the scores at five points all and was greeted by the sight of Derek McNicholas scooting in for a great score to give Westmeath the lead.

Murtagh himself was soon busy and his contribution is best summed up statistically. He scored three from play off no less an operator than Ronan Fallon. His first score just before half-time was his best, an almost casual stroke off the stick as he drove towards the Dublin goal.

His impact and the free-taking of Andrew Mitchell was sufficient to send Westmeath into the half-time break nurturing the slenderest of margins. With the wind howling, however, even the knowledge that Dublin had looked distinctly ordinary seemed unlikely to be enough to save the midlanders.

Dublin scored the first five points of the second half without reply. They kept taking their points in the belief that the goals would come. And they did. When the points total had reached 17 and there were 12 minutes left it began raining goals.

Dublin are fortunate in that to their contingent of bright young things who are learning to shave as they learn to hurl at this level they have been able to add this season the talents of David O'Callaghan who has been in exile, first in football and then in the USA. O'Callaghan was excellent yesterday, scoring 1-5 from play, and it was his goal following a block down which was effectively the turning point in the match, liberating Dublin to cut loose.

His clubmate John Kelly, operating at full forward, stepped up drilling a good goal which permitted him to close out with 1-1. And finally James Burke finished the five-minute goalscoring blitz with a close-range effort.

Dublin were by then generally dominant in all departments. Although Gary Maguire in the Dublin goal made a couple of fine saves his defence was solid and in Niall Corcoran, the former Galway minor, they appear to have found themselves a decent corner back.

At midfield Johnny McCaffrey and Simon Lambert, two under-21 players, established general dominance and Lambert combined a facility for delivering intelligent ball to his full forward line with a couple of assured points.

Dublin, for all that the winning margin suggests a comfortable afternoon, will know that there were times before the scoring deluge came when they looked vulnerable. Maguire's agility and a fresh air shot from Pat Clarke when he was through at speed were all moments which could have changed the game had they unfolded differently.

Derek McNicholas contributed a point of quality for Westmeath in each half but those scores and one from Clarke were the sole contribution from play of the Westmeath forward lines. Whatever happens now, Dublin are unlikely to meet such a shy and retiring front six again for a while.

The win provides Dublin with an opportunity to rectify what they would view as another wrong from their recent past. Last summer they exited the championship to Wexford and shuffled off feeling they had left a great chance behind them.

Kilkenny may be the mountain which dominates this year's Leinster championship but for Dublin the chance of a Leinster final in Croke Park would be a necessary benchmark of progress.

DUBLIN: G Maguire; N Corcoran, S Hiney (capt), T Brady; M Carton, R Fallon (0-3, two 65s, one free), J Boland; J McCaffrey (0-1), S Lambert (0-2); J Burke (1-1), D Qualter (0-1), K Flynn (0-2); D O'Callaghan (1-5), J Kelly (1-1), P Carton (0-1). Subs: R O'Carroll (0-2) for Qualter (33 mins), D Curtin (0-1) for P Carton (45 mins), S Mullen (0-1 a free) for R O'Carroll (61 mins), P O'Driscoll for Lambert (63 mins), G Bennett for J McCaffrey (65 mins).

WESTMEATH: M Briody; G Gavin (0-1), M Briody, A Price; D Curley, D McCormack, C Jordan; B Connaughton, E Loughlin; A Mitchell (0-4, all frees); L Smith P Clarke (0-1); J Shaw, P Dowdall, D McNicholas (0-2). Subs: B Murtagh (0-3) for Connaughton (22 mins), E Price for L Smith (50 mins), J Clarke for E Loughlin (57 mins), B Smith for C Jordan (64 mins).

Referee: C McAllister (Cork).