Colton and Martin lead Tyrone to Minor final victory over Kerry
NO JOEL KERR? No problem for Tyrone who, it turned out, had a terrific replacement for him in the shape of All-Ireland MFC final matchwinner Diarmuid Martin.
Rising star Kerr couldn’t play in this Newbridge final due to being contracted with Premier League side West Ham United.
Tyrone’s answer was to draft in Martin who more than filled Kerr’s boots, striking the winning point in the third minute of stoppage time and three crucial points overall.
There were huge contributions too from Peter Colton, who hit a vital goal from a penalty in the 52nd minute and finished with 1-2, Eoin Long and midfielder James Mulgrew while Padraig Goodman was terrific in the number three jersey.
It was a sensational finale from Tyrone who trailed by four points with 11 minutes to go and who were still a point back at the start of stoppage time.
Colton’s point from a free ultimately levelled it up at 1-15 apiece before Martin pounced for the winning point in the 63rd minute.
Kerry had a chance in the very last play but Ben Kelliher, who finished with 1-2, wasn’t given a free in despite being brought to ground close to goal.
It’s Tyrone’s first All-Ireland minor title since 2010 and with back-to-back U-20 titles already tucked away by the Red Hands, and the seniors through to next weekend’s semi-final, a glorious treble could very well be on the cards.
The Kerr situation added an extra layer of intrigue beforehand with conflicting reports around his availability.
He was eventually ruled out, robbing Tyrone of a vital scoring outlet as Kerr demonstrated with his semi-final goal against Roscommon.
Martin, who came as the last sub in the semi-final, was Kerr’s direct replacement and the Fintona talent was at the pitch of the game immediately, scoring a 16th minute point and enjoying a terrific head-to-head with Tadhg O Slatara.
Tyrone full-forward Eoin Long was tracked by Ronan Sheridan while at the other end, Kerry’s in-form scorepoacher Kelliher had Ciaran McCrystal for company.
Kerry hit the interval with a narrow 1-7 to 0-8 lead and, considering they were playing into the stiff wind, must have been content with that.
Alex Tuohy, wearing number 12, covered huge ground for Kerry and chipped a point. It was pretty much the same story for wing-back Danny Murphy who punished Tyrone with his probing runs.
Tyrone briefly led by three points late in the first-half after a Mulgrew two-pointer was followed by a Long single.
But Kerry scores from captain Gearoid White and Murphy were followed by the Kelliher goal just before the break.
Murphy was involved again, playing the pop pass that Kelliher took at speed coming in from the right before rounding the goalkeeper and striking home.
Tyrone restarted the brighter, initially at least, and levelled the game up for the sixth and seventh times before Kerry again pulled clear.
Two-pointers from White and Kelliher left Kerry 1-13 to 0-12 ahead but a simmering Tyrone suddenly came bubbling to the boil.
In the last 11 minutes they outscored Kerry by 1-4 to 0-2, the goal coming from a Colton penalty after sub Matthew F Daly was fouled by Curtin.
Long also struck the post during the Tyrone blitz and fired a separate opportunity just over as Gerard Donnelly’s side turned the screw impressively.
Tyrone scorers: Peter Colton 1-2 (1-0 pen, 0-1f), Eoin Long 0-5 (0-3f), James Mulgrew 0-3 (tp), Diarmuid Martin 0-3, Darren McAnespie 0-1 (0-1f), Aodhan Quinn 0-1, Matthew F Daly 0-1.
Kerry scorers: Ben Kelliher 1-2, Gearoid White 0-4 (1tp, 0-1f), Kevin Griffin 0-3 (1 tp, 1 45), Tadhg O’Connell 0-2, Danny Murphy 0-2, John Curtin 0-1, Alex Tuohy 0-1.
TYRONE1. Ronan Donnelly (Eglish)
2. Elliott Kerr (Errigal Ciaran) 3. Padraig Goodman (Fintona)
4. Ciaran McCrystal (Loughmacrory)
5. Aodhan Quinn (Errigal Ciaran) 6. James Daly (Eglish)
7. Thomas Meenan (Killyclogher)
8. James Mulgrew (Kildress) 9. Padraig Donaghy (Carrickmore – Captain)
12. Cathal Farley (Bearach) 11. Peter Colton (Fintona)
10. Darren McAnespie (Achadh Lu)
19. Diarmuid Martin (Fintona) 14. Eoin Long (An Chorr Chriochach)
15. Pearse McDonald (Loughmacrory)
SUBS:
18. Matthew F Daly (Eglish) for McAnespie (44) 24. Vincent Gormley (Carrickmore) for McDonald (48)
22. Mark Kennedy (Gleann Eallaigh) for Long (59)
KERRY1. Ruairi Kennedy (Kerins O’Rahillys)
3. Eoghan Joy (Ballymacelligott) 2. Ronan Sheridan (Duagh)
4. Tadhg O Slatara (Churchill)
5. Danny Murphy (Listry) 6. David Sargent (John Mitchels)
7. Marcus Clifford (Firies)
8. Maidhc O Se (An Ghaeltacht) 9. John Curtin (Ballyduff)
10. Mark O’Carroll (Dr Crokes) 11. Gearoid White (John Mitchels – Captain)
12. Alex Tuohy (Austin Stacks)
13. Ben Kelliher (Dr Crokes) 14. Kevin Griffin (St Michael’s Foilmore)
15. Tadhg O’Connell (Tarbert)
SUBS:
17. Nick Lacey (Kerins O’Rahillys) for O’Connell (44) 20. James Kissane (Moyvane) for O Se (52)
19. Padraig O Mainnin (Lios Poil) for O’Carroll (54)
Ref: Thomas Murphy (Galway).
The 42
