Holders Dublin eased into another Leinster final with a typically facile victory over Meath at Croke Park, 0-21 to 0-11.

It's the 25th anniversary of the famous four-game saga between these two counties but the gulf that exists between them now is frightening.

Never leaving second gear, the reigning All-Ireland champions outscored the visitors by ten points to three in the second half to claim their 17^th successive win in a provincial championship match and canter to a July 17^th meeting with Westmeath - a repeat of last year's final.

A crowd of 42,259 witnessed some fight from Mick O'Dowd's men in the first half but they ran out of ideas as the vast superiority of the Leinster champions of the past five seasons came more and more to the fore.

Dean Rock scored ten times and Diarmuid Connolly four. Bernard Brogan settled for three. Meath had no answer and are heading for a difficult Qualifier meeting with Derry.

The winners led by 0-11 to 0-8 at the break, the visitors delivering a plucky display as they hung gallantly to their opponents' coat tails.

Graham Reilly posted Meath's first point inside the opening minute and added another in the tenth after Bernard Brogan and Cillian O'Sullivan (free) had traded scores. In between, Dalton McDonagh was almost in for a Royal County goal but was denied by a combination of Stephen Cluxton and David Byrne.

Rock tapped over a simple free in the twelfth minute and followed up with another from further out before Brian Fenton edged the holders ahead for the first time. Michael Newman's stunning free from the deck tied the scores up for the third time but Rock replied with his third converted free - from the hands - on 19 minutes.

Paul Flynn - a late addition to the Dubs starting XV along with Denis Bastick (with Michael Darragh MacAuley and Paul Mannion making way) - and Brogan lashed over two more Dubs points and Connolly added one in between two more terrific long-range Newman frees - 0-8 to 0-6 after 25 minutes.

An outrageous Connolly point was cancelled out by a fine run and finish from speed merchant Eamonn Wallace as the underdogs stayed in touch with the interval approaching. Half an hour in, O'Sullivan cancelled out Rock's free with a nice left-footed strike and Flynn closed the first-half scoring deep into added time to give Jim Gavin's combination a three-point interval lead.

Rock stretched the gap five minutes after the restart and added another before Newman opened Meath's second-half account on 45 minutes. Brogan and Rock (two frees) had the gap at an insurmountable seven points with 20 minutes left, 0-16 to 0-9.

Reilly delightfully swept over the tenth Meath point off the outside of his right boot 16 minutes from the end but Rock (free) replied with his ninth point of the match. Connolly lofted a shot over the bar to leave eight points between the teams with an hour played.

Rock (free) and Connolly made it double scores with a minute left on the clock; subs Mannion and Ronan Jones posted the last scores as the game petered to an ineviable conclusion.

Dublin - S Cluxton; David Byrne, J Cooper, P McMahon; J Small, C O'Sullivan, J McCarthy; B Fenton (0-1), D Bastick; P Flynn (0-2), C Kilkenny, D Connolly (0-4); K McManamon, D Rock (0-10, 9f), B Brogan (0-3). Subs: M D Macauley for D Bastick, P Mannion (0-1) for B Brogan, P Andrews for K McManamon, E Lowndes for J Small, M Fitzsimons for C O'Sullivan, C O'Callaghan for P Flynn.

Meath - P O'Rourke; D Keogan, M Burke, D Smyth; A Douglas, D Tobin, C O'Brien; H Rooney, A Tormey; E Wallace (0-1), G Reilly (0-3), P Harnan; M Newman (0-4, 3f), C O'Sullivan (0-2, 1f), D McDonagh. Subs: R Jones (0-1) for A Tormey, S Lavin for E Wallace, S Tobin for D McDonagh, J Wallace for G Reilly, C Finn for A Douglas, B McMahon for C O'Sullivan, J Wallace (BC).

Referee - R Hickey.

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