Dublin...0-15 Westmeath...0-10: A coalition of astute, precise passing and resolve, aided by the goal chances Westmeath failed to put away enabled Dublin to secure a second brace of points in four starts and thereby rekindle hopes of qualifying for the National League play-offs before a crowd of 8,082 in Mullingar yesterday.
The tag of under-achievers remains stuck to Páidí Ó Sé's men but they repeatedly gave the impression that all they needed was a little luck in the shape of a goal to kick-start a winning performance.
Dublin's defence yesterday was an unyielding division that gave the home attackers little room to finish what they promised despite the inspiring work of Dessie Dolan, in particular, Fergal Wilson and Denis Glennon.
Westmeath's centre back Aidan Canning pin-pointed his side's main weakness. "Whereas we would have to put 10 passes together to find the opening for a shot Dublin would find the openings with three passes."
The Dublin half-forward line of Conal Keaney, Brian Cullen and Senan Connell posed big problems for a defence that that was left without the presence of full back Donal O'Donoghue who was forced to hobble off with a leg injury early in the second quarter.
Ultimately, the goal chances Westmeath failed to put away, not least the penalty they were awarded in injury-time before the break, contributed enormously to their downfall.
"The penalty miss was the turning point as far as I am concerned," rued Ó Sé. "Had we got a goal then, or at anytime, I think we could have sneaked it."
Alan Mangan, always a threat, set up the penalty chance with a deft delivery to Denis Glennon, who was fouled close in, and Laois referee Maurice Deegan did not hesitate in awarding the spot-kick.
Glennon, more than anyone, will want to forget his penalty attempt against Stephen Cluxton in the Dublin goal. It looked like a miskick.
Cluxton had only to gather and clear, but he had to do a lot more when only a fine save denied Mangan a goal within a minute of the restart. Towards the end, the in-form Cluxton also steered away a worthy Glennon effort.
When Tommy Lyons was reminded of such close shaves he retorted justifiably: "We hit the crossbar as well."
The excellent midfield play of former All Star Rory O'Connell and David O'Shaughnessy, only periodically offset by the hard-working Ciarán Whelan, was never allowed to reap full reward.
Frustration, brought about by Dublin's sharper style and slow burning power, ultimately set in for Westmeath defenders and Jason Sherlock was flattened by a nasty tackle towards the end.
A great first-half run down the right wing by Dublin wing back Shane Ryan was typical of the drive that Dublin displayed and Colin Moran on the opposite flank was always willing to link up with his forwards. He dovetailed very effectively at times with Keaney and Connell.
Dublin, though, were fortunate enough to be ahead at the break by 0-8 to 0-6. Easily the most inspiring thing to happen during the first half was the pointed line-ball, from almost in the right corner, by Wilson.
The goal that all of Westmeath longed for almost materialised for Dessie Dolan but his low shot was wide of the far upright.
Manager Ó Sé was correct in contending: "we created as many chances as Dublin but in fairness to Dublin they bounced back well after being rattled by Kerry.
"We will now have to win our next two games to stay up and against Kerry next week its not going to be easy for me either. But I must say that I was proud of the performance we put in today".
Making reference to the tragic death of Cormac McAnallen, Lyons expressed the view that, "It has been a difficult week for the GAA as a whole and it has been difficult for players to focus on the match but we won and I am happy about that."
Westmeath's shortcomings continued to haunt them in the second half when their scoring rate stuttered and stalled for almost 20 minutes after Wilson kicked their eighth point to reduce the margin to three 12 minutes into the second half, and that was to prove disastrous.
DUBLIN: S Cluxton; D Henry, P Christie, P Griffin; C Moran, D Magee, S Ryan; C Whelan (0-3), D O'Mahony; C Keaney (0-1), B Cullen (0-2), S Connell (0-4); T Quinn (0-4, three frees), J Sherlock (0-1), D Lally. Subs: C Goggins for Christie (half-time); D Homan for Lally (46 mins); P Andrews for Griffin (56); K Golden for Sherlock (68)
WESTMEATH: G Connaughton; J Davitt, D O'Donoghue, J Keane; B Morley, A Canning, D Heavin; R O'Connell, D O'Shaughnessy; S Colleary, M Ennis (0-1), A Mangan; F Wilson (0-4, one line-ball), D Glennon, D Dolan (0-4). Subs: F Murray for O'Donoghue (18 mins); D Gavin for Murray (48); G Dolan for Ennis (56); J Fallon (0-1) for Colleary (58); JP Casey for O'Shaughnessy (65)
Referee: M Deegan (Laois)
