A battling display enabled Dublin to overcome Leinster under-21 surprise packets Longford despite having player sent off in both normal and extra time at Navan on Saturday.

Louth referee Bob Doheny dismissed midfielder Declan Conlon after 37 minutes but Longford failed to take advantage and Dublin should have clinched victory on the hour when Niall Crossan was short with a free.

Dublin resumed with original full forward Enda Crennan, who had been withdrawn, back on. They were again down to 14 men when Martin McInerney was dismissed three minutes into extra time.

But Longford again failed to profit from their opponents' misfortune and Crossan made amends for his earlier miss with two decisive points in the second period of extra time.

DUBLIN: K Gorman; M Breathnach, B O'Toole, G O'Connell; C Moran, S Ryan, P Andrews; K Darcy (0-1), D Conlon; J Madden, M McInerney, P Murtagh (0-2); P Healy, E Crennan (0-1), N Crossan (0-4). Subs: C Doyle (1-1) for Madden, D O'Brien (0-1) for Healy, A O'Brien for Crennan, Crennan came back on at start of extra time.

LONGFORD: J J Reilly; D McCabe, D Ledwith, B Burke; S Carroll, M Lennon, T O'Rourke; D Hannify, J Fitzpatrick; J Fahy (0- 1), W Skelly (0-2), P Shanley (0-1); P Barden (0-4), T Smullen (0-2), M O'Connor (0-1). Subs: P Sheridan for Lennon, T Johnston for Fahy, J Fahy for Shanley.

Referee: B Doheny (Louth).