Dublin swept away all who got in the way of them once again this year in Leinster as they won the Leinster Championship for the sixth time in a row and their 55th title.
The championship got underway in the preliminary round there were three games where the so-called weaker counties in Leinster played each other. Louth beat Carlow 2-24 to 3-11 in the opening game of the championship. While Laois comfortably overcame Wicklow 3-16 to 0-18 to round off the opening day double header at O’Moore Park in Portlaoise. Offaly rounded off the preliminary round of matches with a comfortable win over Longford in Tullamore.
The Quarter-Finals kicked off at Croke Park, where Wexford played Kildare in a tight low scoring game where the Lilly whites edged out the Yellow-bellies by a single point to 0-9 to 0-8. The next game in Leinster featured defending Leinster and All-Ireland champions Dublin, who were playing their first game away from Croke Park in a decade.The dubs overcame Laois with the help of Dean Rock who got 1-10 and Diarmuid Connolly who got a goal and four points. In the last weekend of quarter-final games, Meath edged out Louth by four points at Parnell Park Michael Newman top-scored for the Royal County. While in Mullingar Westmeath used home advantage to overcome Offaly by a single point.
Croke Park was the setting for the semi-finals at the end of June. 2015’s runners up Westmeath beat Kildare by a single point in a tense game with the help of John Heslin who got four points as they booked a place in a second successive Leinster final. The second semi-final featured the old rivalry between Dublin and Meath. Sadly it didn’t have the same tension and drama as previous meetings between the two counties have had. Rock and Connolly guided Dublin into yet another Leinster Final.
The final ultimately became a routine win for Dublin despite The Dubs slow start to the game. They finally got going in the second half and powered past Westmeath.Bernard Brogan got 1-4, Kevin McManamon also got himself amongst the goals. While Rock got eight points to secure his place as Dublin’s top scorer in the Leinster Championship.
And it`s over the bar 