The Dubs ran out comfortable ten-point winners over Westmeath on a miserably cold and wet evening at Parnell Park.

Between them, Brogan, O'Mahony and Sherlock scored 1-11 as the absence of injured defender Barry Cahill and the retirement of Coman Goggins failed to hit the Metropolitans badly as it was a case of winner all-right for Paul Caffrey's charges.

A tough test awaits for former Dubs player Paul Bealin as Carlow manager or Wexford new kid on the block Jason Ryan, who will provide the opposition for Caffrey's side in the semi-finals next weekend.

Dublin did not need to hit top gear in a game where they always looked like winners, continuing where they left off against Wicklow in the opening round with an all-round destruction of a youthful Westmeath side.

The hosts were more clinical in their use of the ball in the opening stages mainly thanks to the efforts of Brogan and O'Mahony, who both converted frees.

A good burst forward by Shane Ryan led to Sherlock nabbing Dublin's first point from play in the 10th-minute as they built up a 0-3 to 0-0 advantage.

The home side were eager to remain on top and they need not have feared as they left Westmeath with few gaps to capitalise upon.

Some excellent defending by Dublin's half-back line resulted in Dessie Dolan being forced off target after 11 minutes but the Dublin defence were suddenly left wanting from the resulting kick-out.

Niall Kilmartin was quick to break the ball at midfield where Fergal Wilson took possession and started a swift fist-passing movement, which also involved half-forward Mark Gorman, before Michael Greene slotted to the net in the 14th-minute to level the contest for the first time.

This was just a momentary lapse from a Dublin defence that was otherwise solid during the opening 35 minutes.

Stephen O'Shaughnessy and Paul Brogan were commanding in possession and their good work ensured that Westmeath's major was quickly cancelled out, with Brogan also chipping in a point.

More urgency was now displayed by the Dublin attack and O'Mahony had no problems in blasting the ball to the net, a minute after Westmeath's first score of the contest.

Sherlock fed a close pass to O'Mahony who slotted the ball past an oncoming Gary Connaughton. The score reaffirmed Dublin's dominance and they now took points from all angles to secure a nine-point cushion with 11 minutes remaining in the opening half.

Four of Dublin's six forwards had gotten scores at this stage as Westmeath found it hard to cope with a sustained period of pressure from Caffrey's charges.

Westmeath's first score for 17 minutes came as the interval approached with goal scorer Greene now adding a point to his tally but there was nothing to stop a Dublin side who were fully in control and eleven points clear at the break.

The half-time team talk from Tomas Flaharta seemed to have a positive effect as Westmeath emerged a fired-up force in the second half. The first point from Fergal Wilson came inside 20 seconds of the restart.

Indeed Westmeath had added two further points to cut the gap to eight, before Dublin grabbed their first score of the second half when Sherlock raised a white flag in the 48th-minute.

A stylish Dublin never looked like being denied a place in the next round and with the second half played to their liking, they could afford to concede two points in the closing six minutes as a fisted injury-time point from Declan Lally sealed the issue.

DUBLIN: J Leonard; N O'Shea, R McConnell, S O'Shaughnessy; D Murray, C Moran, P Brogan (0-1); E Fennell, S Ryan (0-1); D Lally (0-2), P Burke, B Brogan (0-5, 0-2f); J Sherlock (0-4), D O Mahony (1-2, 0-1f), P Flynn.

Subs used: B Cullen for Ryan (42 mins), D Ryan for Burke (50), D Henry for Murray (55), J O'Brien (0-1) for Sherlock (57), B Kennedy for B Brogan (65).

WESTMEATH: G Connaughton; G Quinn, K Galvin, J Keane; D Harte, D Heavin, A Whitney; A Clinton, N Kilmartin; F Wilson (0-4, 0-1f), T Cleary, M Gorman; M Greene (1-1), D Dolan (0-1, 0-1f), D Bannon.

Subs used: D Kelly for Quinn (17 mins), K Scally for Gorman (23), P Leavy for Kilmartin (35), D Deegan for Bannon (48), TJ Gonoud for Whitney (54).