Tipperary 3-09 Dublin 1-14: Tipperary have beaten Dessie Farrell's much-fancied Dublin side to claim their second All-Ireland minor title.
Inspired performances from the Premier County men ensured the Dubs were never out of sight and when the chance came courtesy of an unfortunate error of judgement in Farrell’s defence second-half substitute Colman Kennedy made them pay.
It was just reward for the sheer tenacity and, indeed, quality on display from Tipp but cruel on a Dublin side that showed plenty of class, before a costly mistake by goalkeeper Ross O’Hanlon.
Dublin were caught cold by Tipp’s start and were four points down in the space of two minutes after Bill Maher’s opening score was added to by Liam McGrath’s goal strike past O’Hanlon.
Dublin’s response was rapid and ruthless. Paul Mannion pointed twice in two minutes and Gavin Ivory’s bursting run through the middle was topped off by a sublime finish into the top corner.
There was no let up from Farrell’s side as Tipp struggled to stay with them and didn’t manage a score for 18 minutes as John Small, Ciaran Kilkenny and Cormac Costello found their range.
Kilkenny increasingly exerted his influence as the half wore on and pointed a free for his second and a five-point lead before dummying John Meagher to take his third score of the half.
Tipp finally mustered a response through a Liam McGrath free but that was cancelled out by Emmet O Conghaile’s first for Dublin.
Dublin looked well in control but Tipp got a lifeline when O’Hanlon hauled down McGrath as he raced in on goal. The Dublin goalkeeper was shown and yellow card and could do nothing but watch Michael Quinlivan’s penalty as it rifled into the bottom corner.
Dublin, though, took a five-point lead in at the break thanks to a quickfire pair of points from Kilkenny that brought his tally to five.
Tipp, however, closed that gap to two within three minutes of the restarts, through Quinliven, Philip Quirke and a free Colman Kennedy and the substitute added another in the 37th minute to make it a one-point game.
Willing running from Ivory created the chance for Jack McCaffrey to claim his first and Kilkenny then added his sixth for a three-point lead but Dublin were having to work much harder for opportunities and Tipp had no intention of lying down.
Two sweet strikes – first from Liam McGrath and another substitute Philip Quirke – signalled Tipp’s refusal to back down and when Dublin responded so did Quirke with another fine effort.
It became increasingly obvious that something special or something awful was going to separate the sides. In the end, it was both. Caught far from home Dublin goalkeeper O’Hanlon chose an ill-fated hand-pass that was intercepted after a scramble by Kennedy.
The sub could have taken an easy point as O’Hanlon back-peddled but instead he picked out the top corner with a strike worthy of any final at any level.
It put Tipp into the lead at long last and, though Kilkenny closed the gap with a late free, they never let it go.