Dublin qualified for the Leinster SFC final after comprehensively beating Kildare 0-26 to 0-11 at Croke Park.

Kildare were competitive throughout the opening period and only trailed by four points at the break but a dominant second half eased Dublin to the predictable victory.

Cormac Costello and Paul Mannion were the main assets in attack as they notched 0-17 between them for Dublin and they can now go into a Provincial final in two weeks against Meath with plenty of confidence.

Dublin are aiming for their ninth consecutive Leinster title and even though Adam Tyrrell kicked a difficult opening minute free for Kildare it was the Dubs who made all the early running.

Mannion was a late selection for Jim Gavin’s men after he had his red card against Louth overturned during the week and he equalised with a lovely effort off his left foot.

Kildare were defending relatively well against the vaunted Dublin attack but it was only a matter of time before the Sky Blues went further clear and that duly happened when they opened up a 0-7 to 0-1 lead by the ten-minute mark with scores from Mannion, Costello, Brian Fenton and Ciaran Kilkenny.

It could have been worse from a Kildare point of view after Costello had a shot saved by Mark Donnellan before the rebound attempt was blocked on the line.

Kildare began to grow into the game afterwards though with Ben McCormack in particular proving a threat with two points on the back of a Neil Flynn free.

Dublin were able to maintain the advantage however with points from Costello and Con O’Callaghan leaving them 0-9 to 0-4 to the good.

McCormack had a glorious goal chance in the 24th minute for Cian O’Neill’s Lillywhites when he skinned Michael Fitzsimons on the endline but on his century Championship appearance Stephen Cluxton stood tall to deny the Sarsfields man.

Costello and Kilkenny added on further scores for the five in a row chasing All-Ireland Champions but Kildare finished the half well with points from Tyrrell and Mick O’Grady leaving Dublin with a four point buffer at the end of an entertaining half.

The second half began with Costello kicking a free for Dublin but Kildare were finding some gaps in the Blue defence with  McCormack latching on to a long inside ball from Tyrrell but the corner-forward could only pull his shot tamely wide.

As they tend to do to most teams Dublin then went through the gears with points from Mannion and Brian Howard’s first handing them a double score lead at 0-14 to 0-7.

On another day Kildare could have at least bagged one goal and their luck was summed up when McCormack had the goal at his mercy in the 50th minute but he stumbled and after Keith Cribbin’s rebound was blocked the chance had gone.

Kildare’s bleak chance at keeping in touch then went as Dublin went through the motions for the rest of the contest.

Tyrrell and Kevin Feely kept the scoreboard ticking over for Kildare but Dublin’s power and pace was proving way too much for them with five points in a row from the 52nd to the 60th minutes courtesy of Costello, Mannion, O’Callaghan and Paddy Small giving them an 11-point lead.

McCormack and David Hyland kicked late consolation efforts for Kildare but the contest was long over as Mannion, Fenton, Costello and Kilkenny all found the target.

Dublin advanced to another Leinster decider with a comfortable 0-26 to 0-11 success.

Dublin: Stephen Cluxton; David Byrne, Michael Fitzsimons, John Small, James McCarthy, Cian O’Sullivan, Jack McCaffrey, Brian Fenton (0-2), Michael Darragh McAuley, Niall Scully, Cormac Costello (0-9, 0-3fs, 0-1 45), Brian Howard (0-1), Ciaran Kilkenny (0-3), Con O’Callaghan (0-3), Paul Mannion (0-7).

Subs: Paddy Small (0-1) for McAuley (52), Philly McMahon for O’Sullivan (52), Eoin Murchan for McCaffrey (62), Paddy Andrews for O’Callaghan (63), Rory O’Carroll for Fitzsimons (65).

Kildare: Mark Donnellan; Mark Dempsey, Mick O’Grady 0-1, David Hyland 0-1, Peter Kelly, Eoin Doyle, Keith Cribbin, Kevin Feely 0-1, Tommy Moolick, David Slattery, Chris Healy, Fergal Conway, Adam Tyrrell 0-4 (0-3fs) Ben McCormack 0-3, Neil Flynn 0-1 (0-1f).

Subs: Kevin O’Callaghan for Flynn (28), Cian O’Donoghue for Moolick (56), Jimmy Hyland for Healy (58), Eoghan O’Flaherty for Cribbin (60), Conor Hartley for Slattery (66).

Referee: Conor Lane (Cork)