Celebrations as Tyrone clinch All-Ireland U-20 title

By Alan Rodgers

TYRONE are the new All-Ireland U-20 champions following an emphatic 1-20 to 1-14 victory over Kildare.

It was a marvellous result for the young Red Hands who proved their class in what was an entertaining final at Carrick-On-Shannon.

There were 11 different scorers and just three frees in the six point win, with Ruairi Canavan top scoring with 1-7, including a brilliantly worked goal after just 20 seconds.

That score provided Tyrone with the perfect start. But they were rocked back just moments later when a goal from Kildare’s Daniel Lynam brought the teams level and laid the template for a free-flowing encounter.

With James and Steven Donaghy doing well in defence and Ruairi McHugh and Michael McGleenan dominating around midfield, Tyrone led at the end of the first quarter. Points from Ciaran Bogue, Dan Muldoon and Ciaran Daly left them 1-3 to 1-1 and ready to consolidate.

It was the Lilywhites, though, who wrestled back control. They hit a series of well-taken scores to overturn the Tyrone advantage and go 1-4 to 1-3 ahead approaching the interval.

But this was when Tyrone came into their own, and they really turned on the style in what ultimately proved to be a decisive period of play.

Conor Cush, Ruairi Canavan, Ciaran Daly, Niall Devlin and James Donaghy all hit the target. Equally important were the efforts of Eoin Corry and Michael Rafferty in the defence as Tyrone led by 1-9 to 1-5 at half-time.

Ruairi Canavan fired over right on the restart to extend the lead and, while Kildare pressed and reduced the deficit to four points, Tyrone were in no mood to relinquish their lead.

The closing quarter saw them really press home that advantage, even though there remained an outside chance of committed opponents springing a surprise.

Niall Devlin, Ruairi McHugh, Ruairi Canavan, Michael McGleenan and Gavin Potter were all on target to leave them 1-17 to 1-10 ahead at the end of normal time. They maintained that momentum right to the final whistle, too, as Ruairi Canavan and substitute, Luke Donnelly, completed a famous win.