Dublin made it back-to-back wins in the O'Byrne Cup with a dominant 3-19 to 1-10 victory over Louth at Parnell Park.
Cormac Costello helped himself to 2-05, with substitute Lorcan O'Dell grabbing a third goal from the penalty spot late on to help move Dessie Farrell's outfit within touching distance of the final.
Costello, along with David Byrne, John Small, Niall Scully and Brian Fenton, were the only Dublin players involved from the side that lost last season's All-Ireland semi-final, with Lee Gannon the sole starter from the XV that accounted for Offaly in the opening round.
Mickey Harte introduced 12 subs for the second half as he continues to run the rule over his Louth squad ahead of a Division 3 league campaign. Ex-AFL player Ciaran Byrne and Jay Hughes were among those to get a run and they contributed 0-06 between them.
Elsewhere in Group A, Niall McNamee hit 1-01 late on as Offaly edged out Longford by a point 1-16 to 2-12 at the Faithful Fields.
In a tight affair, a Dessie Reynolds goal had the visitors two points to the good at the break. John Maughan's side, however, got their noses in front as the second half progressed - Dylan Hyland and Bernard Allen kicking vital scores. A Padraig Joyce goal looked to have given Longford consecutive victories, that was until McNamee, not for the first time, saved Offaly with his late intervention.
In Group B, Billy Sheehan enjoyed his first win as Laois boss after a 1-12 to 0-09 victory over Meath in Stradbally. A fortunate goal from John O'Loughlin helped the hosts to a deserved 1-09 to 0-02 advantage at the break, with Mark Barry points also aiding the O'Moore cause.
Meath were better on the resumption with good scores from David McEntee and James Conlon reducing the deficit. They held Laois scoreless from the 41st to the 64th minute, but crucially could not raise a green flag to really give them a chance of victory.
A welcome boost then for Sheehan after the concession of six goals in last Saturday's loss to Wexford.
Wicklow, after being unable to play against Meath last weekend because of Covid cases in their camp, finally got up and running for new boss Colin Kelly against Wexford in Bray, emerging victorious by four points.
The Garden County trailed by a point at the break 0-06 to 1-02, with Kevin Quinn goaling for the hosts. He also added 0-05 to that total, with Paul Cunningham contributing 0-04 as the home side eventually ran out 1-11 to 1-07 winners.
