Noah Grimes and Eoin McElholm star as Tyrone secure back-to-back under-20 titles

Irish Times

28-05-2025

All-Ireland under-20 football championship final: Tyrone 5-16 Louth 0-17
This was an evening that red-hot forward duo Noah Grimes and Eoin McElholm will not forget any time soon.
Between them, the lethal attacking pair scored 4-10 to help secure back-to-back Dalata Hotel Group All-Ireland under-20 titles for Tyrone.
Leading by just two points with 20 minutes to go in a terrific back and forth at Armagh's Athletic Grounds, the holders suddenly hit the afterburners and left Louth with scorch marks.
They outscored Louth by 3-7 to 0-4 in that final third of the game and while the 14-point margin may have flattered them slightly, there was no denying their quality.
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Grimes clinched the Man of the Match award with a thrilling 2-6 tally in front of 7,944 while senior talent McElholm was not far behind with his 2-4 haul.
There was an impressive late cameo too from substitute Shea McDermott who contributed 1-1, helping to seal the Red Hand County's eighth title at the grade.
Louth will kick themselves for failing to score a single goal despite three decent chances over the hour while eight wides and a number of score attempts that dropped short proved costly for them.
But they will have no complaints about the result as Tyrone, with seven different scorers and an excellent display from Matthew Quinn, locked down back-to-back titles for the third time in the county's history.
Louth, Leinster champions for the first time since 1981, played into a stiff first-half wind but created chance after chance in the opening quarter and will rue their errant kicking in this period.
In the first 10 minutes alone, Louth kicked three points but also dropped three more score attempts short and booted another one wide.
Two minutes later, another point attempt that dropped short, this time from Adam Gillespie, fell kindly for Tony McDonnell to get a shot away that was saved.
The giant fear among the big Louth crowd that made the journey up the M1 was that they'd be made to pay for all the misses.
And sure enough Tyrone snatched a goal against the run of play in the 15th minute.
Grimes this time cut in from the right beyond Micheal Reid and blasted left-footed to the net.
Noah Grimes is on 🔥 for
— The GAA (@officialgaa)
It tied up the game at 1-2 to 0-5 though Louth kept their foot down and continued to benefit from an aggressive press.
Midfielders James Maguire and Sean Callaghan were dominant for Louth initially and a terrific Callaghan two-pointer in the 25th minute left them 0-8 to 1-4 up.
Louth, who beat Mayo at the All-Ireland semi-final stage, weren't flattered by the lead but were also powerless to prevent the game suddenly swinging back in Tyrone's favour.
Grimes, Ruairi McCullagh and Conor O'Neill added points before a Louth kick-out was intercepted by McElholm who fed Grimes for a second goal.
It was a terrific finish as Grimes, unable to bounce the ball a second time after a neat dummy bounce, dropped the ball and finished it soccer style to the net.
Tyrone now led 2-7 to 0-8 at half-time and stretched the gap to seven with points from McElholm and Grimes after the restart.
Louth got it back to a two-point game when they sandwiched a Tadhg McDonnell two-pointer with a series of singles.
Just like the first-half, Louth had opportunities to pull decisively clear but failed to convert 39th and 41st-minute goal chances.
This time there was no coming back for Louth who were buried by an avalanche of Tyrone scores between the 40th and 46th minutes.
McElholm burst through for two trademark goals, the first in the 43rd minute after Liam Og Mossey's spadework and the second three minutes later after a Conall Sheehy lay-off.
Grimes, McElholm and Caolan Donnelly added points in the 2-3 blitz while sub McDermott popped up with a late 1-1.
Tyrone:
C McGarvey; B Hughes, J Clarke (0-0-1), Conor Devlin; C Donnelly (0-0-1), C Daly, F Nelis; Conan Devlin, C O'Neill (0-0-1); C Sheehy, L Og Mossey, M Quinn; N Grimes (2-0-6), R McCullagh (0-0-2, 1f), E McElholm (2-0-4). Subs: E Donaghy for Sheehy 53 mins, D Donaghy for Mossey 55 mins, S McDermott (1-0-1) for Conan Devlin 58 mins, L Lawn for McCullagh 60 mins.
Louth:
T Markey; K Martin, P Tinnelly, M Reid; Tadhg McDonnell (0-1-1), C McKeown, C McGinty; S Callaghan (0-1-1), J Maguire (0-1-2); S Lennon (0-0-1), C MacCriosta (0-0-1), P Grimes Murphy; A Gillespie (0-0-1, 1f), Tony McDonnell (0-0-2, 1f), D Dorian (0-0-1). Subs: B McKeown for Reid 43 mins, J McGlew for McGinty 50 mins, D Shevlin (0-0-1) for Dorian 50 mins.
Referee:
N Mooney (Cavan).