Second-half goals from Con O'Callaghan helped holders Dublin to a 2-10 to 0-9 semi-final victory over Longford in wild and windy Mullingar.

Victory at Lakepoint Park means the four-in-a-row chasing Dubs will lock horns with Offaly at Portlaoise next Wednesday night in the last-ever Leinster U21 football championship final.

Just five days after securing a historic All-Ireland Club SHC medal with Cuala, dual operator O'Callaghan (2-5) netted in the 32nd and 38th minutes as the defending provincial champions pulled away in the third quarter with the elements in their favour.

The game was played in abysmal conditions and the teams deserve immense credit for going at it full pelt under such demanding circumstances. But, it the end, there was no denying that the Dubs - with O'Callaghan and Chris Sallier (a late addition to their starting XV) prominent - possessed quality where it mattered most.

Fielding without the influential Colm Basquel, Dessie Farrell's charges led by 0-4 to 0-3 at the break thanks to two points each from O'Callaghan and Sallier, with the wet and blustery conditions making any kind of flowing football nigh on impossible. Playing into the driving wind in the opening period, the favourites struggled to make their superiority tell on the scoreboard, while the underdogs exploited the situation to make a game of it.

With the wind at their backs, Frank McNamee's men gave as good as they got in the early exchanges but had a couple of wides from Nigel Rabbitte and Rian Brady before the holders opened the scoring with a close-range O'Callaghan free in the 14^th minute.

Brady hit back from a free at the start of the second quarter and then traded points with Sallier in the 22^nd minute as both sets of players grappled manfully with the inclement conditions. Sallier and David McGivney exchanged points and the Dubs led by the odd point from seven at the short whistle thanks to a 30^th-minute O'Callaghan strike.

The game was effectively settled in the second minute of the second half when O'Callaghan netted, calmly rounding the goalkeeper after an exchange with Sallier to tap the ball to an empty net. The unstoppable O'Callaghan bagged his second goal with a drop-kick six minutes later and, in between, the winners also had points from O'Callaghan (2) and Brian Howard to lead by 2-7 to 0-3 after 37 minutes.

McGivney and Jayson Matthews mustered Longford points but Sallier and O'Callaghan respectively replied as the winners retained their ten-point advantage with three-quarters of the game played. Stephen Smith pointed with his first contribution after coming in from the Dublin bench.

A brace of McGivney's frees served only to put come respectability on the scoreboard for the losers and Aidan McElligott and Dessie Reynolds pulled back another couple of consolations with the game long since over as a contest.

Dublin - E Comerford; S McMahon, D Monaghan, D Byrne; C Murphy, C O'Shea, E Murchan; A Foley, B Howard (0-1); T Fox, A Byrne, G O'Reilly; C Sallier (0-3), C O'Callaghan (2-5, 0-3f), D O'Brien. Subs: D McIlgorm for G O'Reilly, S Smith (0-1) for C Sallier, S Bugler for A Byrne, D Spillane for D O'Brien, B Shovlin for A Foley.

Longford - C Gallagher; K Sorohan, C Farrell, J Mooney; C Brady, D Reynolds (0-1), Russell Brady; D McGivney (0-4, 3f), S Kenny; J Kelly, N Rabbitte, P Lynn; Rian Brady (0-2, 1f), D Carrigy, A McElligott (0-1). Subs: C Lee for P Lynn, C Berry for S Kenny, J Matthews for D Carrigy, R Sweeney for Russell Brady, D Doherty (0-1) for J Kelly, S Kelly for J Mooney.

Referee - N Ward.

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