As expected, Dublin are through to the last four in Leinster; they beat Carlow by twelve points in Portlaoise tonight (0-19 to 0-7).

With 13,238 in attendance on neutral ground, Jim Gavin's charges struggled for long periods to pull away from gritty Division Four opposition who defended en masse, but the floodgates opened after midfielder Brendan Murphy received a second yellow card - and a red - in the 48^th minute.

Only four points separated the teams at that stage but Turlough O'Brien's side had no chance with 14 men. Dublin themselves, who will face either Westmeath or Offaly in three weeks, could have lost a man in the second half as Diarmuid Connolly appeared to put a hand on linesman Ciaran Brannigan ... we might well be hearing more about that particular incident.

With 13 and 14 Carlow men behind the ball for much of the game, Dublin had to be patient; they also benefited from a handful of fairly soft frees awarded in their favour. But (although the final margin could have been different) there was only ever going to be one outcome in this novel meeting. Admirable and all as the outsiders' defending was, they had no real attacking platform and managed only two second-half points.

The Qualifier-bound losers mounted an ultra-determined rearguard action in the first half and played it almost to perfection, frustrating the Sam Maguire and Delaney Cup holders to go in at the short whistle just three points behind, 0-8 to 0-5, having played with the assistance of a strong breeze.

Brendan Murphy gave the underdogs a dream start when he clipped over the lead point inside the opening minute but Dean Rock replied from a brace of frees to steady the red-hot favourites, who would never be behind again.

An eighth-minute Paul Broderick free tied the scores up for the second time but the winners then hit four in a row: Jack McCaffrey crept forward to unpick the Carlow defence with a fine finish and Rock's third converted free made it double scores - 0-4 to 0-2 after 13 minutes.

Paul Mannion atoned for an earlier wide by tagging on the fifth Dublin point and McCaffrey's second of the evening left four between the sides at the midway point in the opening period. A Con O'Callaghan effort struck a post before an inspirational Murphy kick closed the gap to three with eleven minutes left in the first half.

Niall Scully registered a lovely score into the wind but, four minutes from the break; impressive speed merchant Sean Murphy won a Carlow free which Broderick fired over to reduce their arrears to three.

The excellent Ciaran Kilkenny took a pass from Jonny Cooper to stretch the gap but the outsiders replied again in added time via a terrific Darragh Foley free to turn around just three points adrift.

Kevin McManamon's goal effort went wide off the outside of a post at the start of the second half and Rock missed a handy free on 40 minutes with Jim Gavin's men looking rusty. Rock made no mistake from his next free a couple of minutes later and converted another very soft one after Danny Moran had galloped forward to hit a great Carlow score.

But disaster struck for the underdogs in the 13^th minute of the second half when they were reduced to 14 men as their talisman Murphy was issued with a second yellow card for an off-the-ball altercation with Cooper. Rock (free) and Kilkenny increased the gap to six, 0-12 to 0-6, and substitute Bernard Brogan popped up with the next Dublin score on 55 minutes - his first championship score outside Croke Park!

O'Callaghan bagged his first-ever championship point from a free and clipped another one over five minutes from the end. Broderick's late free was a mere consolation for the gallant losers and Brogan tagged on his second score as we went into five minutes of injury time. Dublin also gave some game time to former county hurler Mark Schutte.

Fellow sub Conor McHugh and Kilkenny registered in added time and Connolly - who will surely be in hot water with the GAA's disciplinary chiefs next week - closed the scoring from a delightful '45'. Job done for the Dubs, who remain on course for a seventh successive provincial title, while Carlow can hold their heads high too as they contributed a lot to the game in terms of commitment and honest endeavour.

Dublin - S Cluxton; M Fitzsimons, J Cooper, E Lowndes; J McCarthy, C O'Sullivan, J McCaffrey (0-2); B Fenton, C Kilkenny (0-3); N Scully (0-1), D Connolly (0-1'45), P Mannion (0-1); K McManamon, C O'Callaghan (0-2f), D Rock (0-6f). Subs: B Brogan (0-2) for K McManamon, S Carthy for J McCaffrey, M Schutte for N Scully, C McHugh (0-1) for D Rock, D Bastick for B Fenton.

Carlow - C Kearney; C Crowley, S Redmond, C Lawlor; D Moran (0-1), D St Ledger, G Kelly; B Murphy (0-1), S Murphy (0-1); E Ruth, D Foley (0-1f), A Kelly; P Broderick (0-3f), S Gannon, J Murphy. Subs: M Rennick for A Kelly, S Clarke for E Ruth, J Clarke for G Kelly, K Nolan for C Crowley, BJ Molloy for D Moran, C Moran for P Broderick.

Referee - S Hurson.

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