O'Byrne Cup SF semi-final/Dublin 0-15 Wicklow 1-5:There's probably no such thing as a surprise in wind-lashed O'Byrne Cup matches in Aughrim but from an early stage of Saturday's semi-final, before about 4,500, it was apparent Dublin were moving too easily and accurately to end up as the biggest scalp on Mick O'Dwyer's latest belt.

As befits this time of the year there was something for everyone. Dublin manager Paul Caffrey was happy with the performances of his newcomers and the team's marksmanship, whereas O'Dwyer recognised the respectable resistance his team offered in the second half.

The wind was the most important factor in the match.

Dublin combined it with high-quality finishing in the first half to rack up 13 points. After the break, however, the home side were unable to get any real traction on their comeback, having squandered a number of chances early in the half.

"That was an education for us today," said O'Dwyer afterwards. "When we had the wind we kicked seven or eight wides. In the first half they kicked hardly any - that was the difference. We've only started building a team and that was a big step-up for us. Dublin are one of the top four teams in the country and have done a lot of work over the last five years.

"It was a bit of a lottery with the wind but we competed well and that was the most important thing," O'Dwyer said after the match. "No one left until the end but they would have been way stronger than us in terms of fitness, power and strength."

Wicklow actually did better against the wind, scoring 1-1 - a magnificent point into the gale from Paul Earls - and clinically threading together the goal with their only really penetrative movement of the first half, JP Dalton cutting in and laying off to Tony Hannon, who coolly beat the covering player on an otherwise undefended goalline.

But it was Dublin's attack that took the plaudits.

Newcomer Dermot Connolly has a great kicking style and it yielded five first-half points, an amalgam of dead-ball and scores from play. In the second half he was frequently the sole attacker as Dublin faced the wind.

In those circumstances he did well to create a couple of chances but his shot selection failed to take into account the desperate conditions.

Otherwise Wicklow were troubled by the aerial abilities of Kevin Bonner (who sustained an arm injury and had to go off after 30 minutes) and Conal Keaney, who also kicked five points despite an engaging battle with corner back Alan Byrne.

Alan Brogan rattled off three and looked even at this early stage of the season what he is - the commanding figure of Dublin's attack.

The win gives Dublin one further match before their gala floodlit date with Tyrone in a fortnight. Caffrey was content.

"The younger players are stepping up to the plate for the National League," he noted. "Our finishing was quite exceptional in the first half. We had 16 opportunities and scored 13 of them in those conditions. If we have scoring stats like that in the summer I'd be very happy."

Wicklow have a lower-key opening engagement in the league against Antrim and the preparation for that continued with a 10 o'clock training session yesterday morning.

"We'll still be trying players," said O'Dwyer. "At the moment we have seven or eight players whose fitness isn't up to it but we can work on that. I'm happy enough. We've had three great games. If we had been beaten in the first round we wouldn't have had the chance to look at so many players."

DUBLIN: S Cluxton; P Griffin, C Prenderville, N O'Shea; C Goggins, C Moran, G Brennan; D Magee, D O'Mahony; D Connolly (0-5 two 45s, one free), D Lally, D Murray (0-1); C Keaney (0-5, two frees), K Bonner (0-1), A Brogan (0-3). Subs: P Burke for Bonner (30 mins), J Magee for D Magee (51 mins), D Magee for O'Mahony (58 mins), B Cahill for Lally (63 mins), T Quinn for Burke (66 mins).

WICKLOW: J Bolger; C Hyland, D Ó hAnnaidh, A Byrne; S Cushe, C Foley, K Manning; J Stafford (0-1, free), D Jackman; J Slattery, JP Dalton, P Phibbs; L Glynn, P Earls (0-3, one free, one 45), T Hannon (1-1). Sub: S King for Phibbs (25 mins).

Referee: S Ó Sé (Wexford).