Tyrone's attacking power propelled them to a second All-Ireland U20 title in three years as they blew Kerry away at O’Moore Park in Portlaoise.
This was simply irresistible football from the Red Hands, who claimed all but two points of their total from play as they sliced open the Munster champions’ defence time and again.
Each time the Kingdom made a positive step forward, they were knocked back by another incisive Tyrone move and the clinical finishing of an attacking unit that could not be stopped.
Centre forward Eoin McElhom, fired over seven points, and there were five each from Ruairi McCullagh and Ronan Cassidy. It was corner back Joey Clarke who epitomised the spirit of this Tyrone side with a sublime performance in this latest chapter in Tyrone-Kerry rivalry.
Kerry, appearing in their first final at this level since 2008, when they were crowned U21 champions, hit the front through Daniel Kirby, a constant attacking threat, and regained the lead when midfielder Eddie Healy slotted another to cancel out Ronan Cassidy's effort.
But the Red Hands struck a major blow with a 14th-minute goal, netted by corner-back Joey Clarke, who arrived at pace on Cassidy’s shoulder to fire a deflected shot past Michael Tansley.
They had two more goal chances in the opening half, but Gavin Potter and Cormac Devlin smashed their shots against the post.
Rob Stack and playmaker Odhran Ferris worked hard to ignite the Kingdom challenge, and two more Dillon points kept them close, but they were turned over on a number of occasions by a defence in which sweeper Callum Daly was highly effective.
Tyrone hit four of the last six points of the half to establish a firm foothold in the contest.
Ruairi McCullagh claimed two scores, with McElholm hitting his second and Devlin also on target, with Dillon, with a mark for his fourth of the afternoon, and Healy responding for the Munster champions.
At the break, the Red Hands led by 1-08 to 0-07. With the wind in their backs in the second half, they pushed further ahead through McCullagh and Odhran Brolly.
Kerry, with Charlie Keating driving at the Tyrone defence, responded with a Ryan Diggin score and a brilliant Dillon effort, but a couple of vital interceptions from Clarke.
The Red Hands were now pressing the Kerry kick-out, and carved out another goal chance, this time Cassidy denied by a fine Michael Tansley save.
Moving into the final quarter, Shea O’Hare’s pace was as hot as ever, and Tyrone reeled off five on the spin to go eight clear.
But with Charlie Keating, Eddie Healy and Ferris driving their side forward, Kerry stuck to their task and never stopped believing.
They pulled back a goal from a Luke Crowley penalty, and Luke Crowley narrowed the gap to four.
The Red Hands were never going to let this one slip, and a late volley of scores, including a couple of McElholm gems, carried them to triumph.
Tyrone: C McAneney; J Clarke (1-00), B Hughes, Conor Devlin; S O’Hare, M Rafferty, O Brolly (0-01); R Fox, C O’Neill; Cormac Devlin (0-01), E McElholm (0-07), G Potter; R McCullagh (0-05, 1f), R Cassidy (0-05, 1f), C Daly.
Subs: F Nelis for Conor Devlin (38'), C Donnelly for Brolly (44'), N Grimes for Potter (53'), R Donnelly for Cassidy (61'), C Owens (0-01) for McCullagh (58')
Kerry: M Tansley; M Lynch, D O’Callaghan, G Evans; C Keating, D O’Connor, C Lynch; R Stack, E Healy (0-02); D Kirby (0-01), O Ferris, T Kennedy; C Dillon (0-08, 3f, 1m), A Crowley, L Crowley (1-01, 1-0 pen).
Subs: R Diggin (0-01) for O’Callaghan (29'), P Lane for A Crowley (h-t), F Murphy for Kirby (45'), E Boyle (0-01) for Stack (46'), A Segal for Evans (48').
Referee: P Neilan (Roscommon).
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
