Ulster U-20 FC
Tyrone 4-19 Monaghan 0-22

By Michael McMullan

Three first-half goals shot Tyrone to a third successive Ulster title on Wednesday night with victory over Monaghan in the BOX-IT Athletic Grounds.

The Red Hands scored all of their tally from play with their display of direct football once they got a grip of the game.

Max Maguire fired the Oriel County back to within three points with five minutes to go but a run a point from skipper Conor Devlin pushed Tyrone to victory.

Devlin led by example all the way through the championship and he is one of three players with all three medals, Conor O’Neill and Ruairi McCullagh are the others.

It has been an eventful championship with both finalists needing to navigate the quarter-finals after finishing third in their respective qualifying groups.

With Tom Doherty to the fore, it was Monaghan who shot out of the blocks.

After a Turlough Muldoon opener, Max Maguire was on target but Doherty’s two-pointer put Monaghan 0-5 to 0-1 ahead.

A Max McGinnity free made it six as Monaghan won five of the first six Tyrone kick-outs.

The game changed on the first goal, A Shea McDermott two-point free dropped short and when it wasn’t fully cleared, it was McDermott but hammered to the net

Points from Aodhan Quinn and Conall Sheehy had the sides level after 15 minutes.

Matthew Carolan replied with a two-point shot but Tyrone struck for a second goal as they capitalized for getting a hold at midfield.

Conor Devlin raced through to shoot the second goal to the net with Aodhan Quin then adding the second goal.

It was Peter Colton and Adrian McGurren who each hit four points that shot Paul Devlin’s side into a 3-11 to 0-11 interval lead.

Conor Jones and Killian Kearns hit two Monaghan scores with Max Maguire adding a two-pointer to make the score 0-16 to 3-12.

Conall Sheehy and McDermott added points for a lively Tyrone side to get another hold of the game.

Max Maguire inspired a comeback but Darragh Donaghy sealed the deal with a fourth goal.

Tyrone now put their All-Ireland title on the line against Kildare or Louth who contest next Wednesday’s Leinster final.

Scorers

Tyrone: A Quinn, S McDermott, C Devlin 1-2 each, A McGurren, P Colton 0-4 each, D Donaghy, S McDermott 1-1, C Sheehy 0-2 and T Muldoon 0-1

Monaghan: T Doherty, M Maguire 0-6 (2tp), M Carolan (1tp), K Kearns (f) 0-3 each, M McGinnity (f), M Quinn, C Jones and T Mallen 0-1 each

Teams

Tyrone: O Watson; S Broderick, L Neeson, M McNamee; A Quinn, C Devlin, B Gallagher; E Donaghy, C O’Neill; C Sheehy, L Hughes, T Muldoon; A McGurren, P Colton, S McDermott.
Subs: D Donaghy for Muldoon (49), D Devlin for McGurren (56), R O’Sullivan for Hughes (61), A Colton for Quinn (62), L Lawn for Colton (63)

Monaghan: J Mooney; A Stuart, C Clerkin, N Quinn; M McCaffrey, D Connolly, J McCrytsal; S O’Connor, M Carolan; C Murphy, T Doherty, C Jones; M McGinnity, M Finn, M Maguire
Subs: S Carolan for Quinn (38), K Kearns for McGinnity (38), T Mallen for McCrystal (39), J Wright for Murphy (47), S McElwain for Jones (57)

Attendance: 2,950

Referee: M Dorrian (Donegal)