Five-goal Tyrone stretch legs in second half to claim All-Ireland U20 title

Irish Examiner

4 days ago

All-Ireland U20 Championship final: Tyrone 5-16 Louth 0-17
Red hot forwards Noah Grimes and Eoin McElholm did the bulk of the scoring as holders Tyrone cruised to back-to-back Dalata Hotel Group All-Ireland U-20 Football Championship titles.
Leading by 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 the final third of the game and while the 14-point margin may have flattered them slightly, there was no denying their quality.
Grimes clinched the Man of the Match award with a thrilling 2-6 tally while McElholm, who struck 0-7 in last year's final win over Kerry, wasn't 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 to the home of Armagh GAA 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, with a point to his name already, this time cut in from the right beyond Micheal Reid and blasted left-footed to the net.
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 in this period 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.
Shane Lennon had a flicked shot cleared off the line by Tyrone's Clarke and Darragh Dorian smashed the second of Louth's attempts off the bar.
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 Óg 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 to leave Tyrone 4-12 to 0-13 ahead, breaking the back of the Louth challenge.
Grimes, who also netted against Kerry in the semi-final win, and McElholm continued to tap over the points in the closing minutes and sub McDermott added a late 1-1 to gloss the scoreline and secure a 14-point win.
Scorers for Tyrone: N Grimes 2-6; E McElholm 2-4; S McDermott 1-1; R McCullagh 0-2 (1 free); J Clarke, C O'Neill, C Donnelly 0-1 each.
Scorers for Louth: J Maguire 0-4 (1 tp); S Callaghan (1 tp), Tadhg McDonnell (1 tp) 0-3 each; Tony McDonnell 0-2 (1f); C MacCriosta, D Dorian, S Lennon, A Gillespie (1 free), D Shevlin 0-1 each.
TYRONE: C McGarvey; B Hughes, J Clarke, Conor Devlin; C Donnelly, C Daly, F Nelis; Conan Devlin, C O'Neill; C Sheehy, L Og Mossey, M Quinn; N Grimes, R McCullagh, E McElholm.
Subs: E Donaghy for Sheehy (53); D Donaghy for Mossey (55); S McDermott for Conan Devlin (58); L Lawn for McCullagh (60).
LOUTH: T Markey; K Martin, P Tinnelly, M Reid; Tadhg McDonnell, C McKeown, C McGinty; S Callaghan, J Maguire; S Lennon, C MacCriosta, P Grimes Murphy; A Gillespie, Tony McDonnell, D Dorian.
Subs: B McKeown for Reid (43); J McGlew for McGinty & D Shevlin for Dorian (50).
Referee: N Mooney (Cavan).