Dublin progressed to their second Cadbury All-Ireland Under-21 football final in three years after scoring a hat-trick of goals to defeat Cork 3-11 to 0-14 this afternoon.
Philip Ryan struck 2-03 for Jim Gavin's victorious side in the opening half at O'Moore Park, as they built a 2-05 to 0-07 half-time lead.
Jack McCaffrey added a third goal just after the restart and despite the efforts of free-taker Brian Hurley (0-05), Cork were unable to overhaul the Dubs.
The sides were well matched in the opening stages with Cork's John O'Rourke and Dublin full-forward Ryan trading early points, but the Rebels quickly sprung into life.
John Cleary's youngsters powered into a 0-05 to 0-01 lead after 11 minutes, with points from Hurley, Mark Sugrue, Dónal Óg Hodnett and Hurley again opening up a four-point lead.
While the likes of Ciarán Reddin, Ciarán Kilkenny and McCaffrey were trying hard for Dublin, luck was not with the Dubs early on.
A McCaffrey effort in the 11th minute came off the upright, while at the opposite end Hurley cracked a shot off the crossbar.
Cork could be credited also with some fine defending in the opening quarter - Alan Cronin forced out a Kilkenny effort, and Rebel half-back Jamie Wall made a superb block on Daniel Byrne.
All of Cork's hard work was undone though by a superb Dublin onslaught, during which they scored 1-03 without reply in a four-minute spell.
Gary Sweeney and Daniel Byrne picked off points from play in quick succession to cut the deficit to 0-05 to 0-03 in the 13th minute.
With Dublin continuing to cause havoc, Kilkenny knocked home what he thought was the first goal of the semi-final clash after Paul Hudson was initially blocked by John Cronin. But referee Martin Higgins spotted an earlier infringement and a penalty was awarded.
Ryan stepped up to slot the ball to the right of Cork goalkeeper Sean Mellet and give the Leinster champions a 1-03 to 0-05 lead - one they would not relinquish over the remainder of the game.
Ryan quickly tagged on a 45 for Dublin to open up a two-point lead. Although Kevin Hallissey pegged a point back for Cork, Gavin's charges continued to prove dangerous in the second quarter.
Midfielder Emmet Ó Conghaile restored their two-point lead before the in-form Ryan broke through for his second goal.
The St. Brigid's clubman found the net in the 23rd minute, following up on some good work by Kilkenny and Byrne.
Cork tried hard to battle back into contention, but could only manage one point from a Hallissey free in the closing seven minutes of the half despite dominating possession.
The Rebels registered five wides in succession before the break with Hallissey and John O'Rourke particularly guilty, leaving Dublin 2-05 to 0-07 ahead.
Dublin were sharpest again in front of the posts in the second half, and defender McCaffrey popped up to complete his side's hat-trick of goals just two minutes in.
Dublin moved into a double scores lead by the 40th minute, after Kilkenny's lone score in this game made it 3-07 to 0-06.
While Cork outscored Dublin during the closing stages, the Metropolitans were solid when the stakes were at their highest and Sean George from Ballymun Kickhams stood out in defence.
IT Carlow student Brian Hurley kept the Rebels in contention late on, putting away three of their final eight points. John O'Rourke, Luke Connolly and Dan McEoin were also on target.
But Dublin made certain of their six-point victory with Ryan fittingly closing out the scoring for the winners, who are bidding to follow in the footsteps of the two previous All-Ireland U-21 winning sides from the capital (2003 and 2010).
SCORERS
Dublin: P Ryan 2-03 (1-00 pen, 0-01 '45'), J McCaffrey 1-00, E Ó Conghaile, P Hudson 0-02 each, D Byrne, G Sweeney, C Kilkenny, P Maguire 0-01 each.
Cork: B Hurley 0-05 (0-04f), K Hallissey (0-02f), J O'Rourke, L Connolly (0-01 '45') 0-02 each, M Sugrue, D McEoin (0-01f), D Óg Hodnett 0-01 each.
DUBLIN: JB Carthy; K O'Brien, S George, M Concar; L Fletcher, J Kelly, J McCaffrey; E Ó Conghaile, C Reddin; M Schutte, D Byrne, G Sweeney; P Hudson, P Ryan, C Kilkenny.
Subs used: P Maguire for Byrne (37 mins), G Seaver for Schutte (45), P O'Higgins for Reddin (46), H Dawson for Hudson (55), E Keogh for Sweeney (56)
CORK: S Mellet; A Cronin, D Cahalane, D O'Donovan; J Wall, T Clancy, J Cronin; R Deane, E Healy; K Hallissey, M Sugrue, J O'Rourke; L Connolly, B Hurley, D Óg Hodnett.
Subs used: D McEoin for Hallissey (half-time), C O'Sullivan for Wall (40 mins), B O'Driscoll for Healy (51), A Cadogan for Sugrue (55).
Referee: Derek Fahy (Longford)
