Dublin entered the Leinster Football Final as firm favourites and left the pitch as comfortable champions following a 2-13 - 0-6 victory.
The home side lead from the get-go, though a very slow start to the game - two points in the opening 13 minutes - allowed Westmeath to gain some confidence on the ball, though in the end, few of their points came easy.
A fisted effort by McAuley and two converted frees by Dean Rock gave Dublin a 0-5 - 1-0 lead they never looked like losing.
Dublin corner back Jonny Cooper may be considered lucky not to have seen the black card for pulling the jersey of a Westmeath forward as he entered dangerous territory. John Heslin converted the free but Dublin went onto extend the lead through Ciarán Kilkenny and Kieran Martin.
Weastmeath were still moving well but the lack of any end product meant that Dublin could threaten on the counter.
Martin scored nicely from an acute position in the left corner, and another Heslin and Kilkenny score free closed the half.
Six shots on goal fell short for Westmeath in the first half, and that failure to turn possession into anything meaningful really summarised the whole game for them.
Connolly started Dublin’s half with a beautifully-arced point from deep-centre, signalling the moment Dublin changed gear.
Soon after, some neat passing in the box resulted in a lofted ball to Bernard Brogan at the far post, who beats two defenders to knock it home.
If the game wasn’t over then, less than two minutes later a second goal from McCaffery brought the scored to 2-9 - 0-4, putting an effective end to the contest
Points were exchanged, with Martin Connolly and Boyle hitting over, but the game reverted to the pace of the first few minutes – going seven minutes without a score until Alan Brogan clips one in off the post on 58 minutes.
Two further points from Kilkenny and Bernard Brogan added to the margin of an already clear victory.
Westmeath needed the performance of a generation to win this one, and unfortunately for therm Dublin were too reliable to let it happen.
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