All-Ireland MFC Final: Kerry can have no complaints. They came up against a team yesterday that possessed too many avenues of attack, too wily a defence and a management duo that has now masterminded two minor titles in six years.
Liam Donnelly and Martin Coyle had to fill the shoes of Mickey Harte, who delivered a minor All-Ireland in 1998, and have shown, once again, that Tyrone's youth structures are in safe hands.
On this evidence inter-county minor football is changing. A more professional and cynical attitude has seeped into the mindset of even the underage footballer.
Kerry's best player was ruthlessly shut out. The free-spirited running of Darren O'Sullivan should grace the senior stage over the coming years but Croke Park proved to be a frustrating hunting ground yesterday.
The stylish attacker came onto the ball at pace on nine occasions over the hour only to be dragged down eight times. Referee Thomas Quigley duly awarded eight frees but Kerry's shooting was stale so reward was minimal. O'Sullivan finished scoreless.
"He probably was the most dangerous Kerry forward," admitted Donnelly after the game. "He is fast, has nice blonde hair and he looks very threatening whenever he is on the ball, but in fairness to our boys our tackling was very good if you count the number of blocked balls we had in defence.
"I know Kerry people maybe thought that we singled him out for a bit of special attention but we didn't. We don't do that in Tyrone. We just play football."
Tyrone may have stifled the opposition but they also deserved their sixth All-Ireland minor title. The result reaffirms the county's position as a superpower in the modern game. Their conveyor belt looks stronger than ever.
Midfielder Raymie Mulgrew had a colossal impact on proceedings. There were others, like his midfield partner Shane O'Hagan; Paul Marlow was a lifesaver at full back; Marc Cunningham, a true leader on the 40, while Ronan McRory landed two hugely valuable points.
The highly-rated Colm Cavanagh, a brother of senior midfielder Seán, opened the scoring after just 25 seconds, only to be well marshalled thereafter.
Four minutes later Kerry had the best chance to rustle the net. Paul O'Connor eventually finished with six points but he was unfortunate to blast a shot off the underside of the crossbar.
Tyrone replied with points from Cathal O'Neill and Mulgrew to give them a three-point lead.Daniel Doyle and O'Connor reduced the deficit but Tyrone refused to hand over their lead.
Kerry managed to draw level early in the second-half with O'Connor scoring his third point. Yet they struggled in the attacking third of the field while the Tyrone forwards found plenty of room on the break. Four points were rattled up via Mulgrew, McRory (two) and Aiden Cassidy - 0-10 to 0-6 and the temperature was rising.
Then, all of a sudden, the game slowed down. Kerry began to kick wides - eight in the second-half alone to Tyrone's zero.
Coming into the final quarter, Kerry manager Seán Geaney put on four substitutes - one of whom, Eddie Mangan, pointed.
They managed to come within touching distance with O'Connor and Brian Moran pointing. However, sandwiched between these scores was a Mulgrew effort.
Kerry kept coming but Tyrone soaked up the pressure and one of their subs, John Kelly, hit the point of the day from distance two minutes into injury-time to make it a three-point game.
In the final fling of the dice, O'Sullivan glided through some desperate defending but was eventually brought down three strides from the penalty zone. Fourteen players blocked O'Connor's sight at goal and his effort flew over the bar.
The whistle followed seconds later and the continued excellence of Tyrone's football structures was duly rewarded.
TYRONE: J Curran; N McGinn, P Marlow, D Burke; J Gilmore, N Kerr, M Murray; R Mulgrew (0-3, one free), S O'Hagan (0-1); C O'Neill (0-1), M Cunningham, R McRory (0-3); G Devlin (0-1), C Cavanagh (0-1), A Cassidy (0-1). Subs: PJ Quinn for M Murray (45 mins), C McCarron for C Cavanagh (51 mins), J Kelly (0-1) for C O'Neill (56 mins), S O'Neill for D Burke (60 mins), S Donaghy for S O'Hagan (62 mins).
KERRY: B Kealy; P Reidy, L Quinn, K Young; D Doyle (0-1), C Kelliher, D O'Connor; B Moran (0-1), R Keating (0-1); D O'Sullivan, A Kennelly, M O'Donoghue; S Murphy, M Evans, P O'Connor (0-6, three frees). Subs: A Maher for M Evans (half-time), P Curran for R Keating, E Mangan (0-1) for M O'Donoghue (both 45 mins), D Culloty for C Kelliher (52 mins), B Looney for S Murphy (58 mins).
Referee: Thomas Quigley (Wexford).
