Kerry claimed their first Dalata Hotel Group All-Ireland U20 title since 2008 as they routed holders Tyrone at Croke Park with a dominant second half display.
All the poise and artistry of the Kingdom illuminated a classy Croke Park performance, but it was the more basic issue of dominance on the kick-out that made this a day of triumph for Tomás Ó Se's side.
Daniel Kirby and Evan Boyle lorded the midfield battle for possession, sending their side sweeping forward in waves of attack, and in centre forward Gearóid White they had a man to control the flow and direct operations, not to mention his ability to kick two-pointers.
The Munster champions trailed by eight points at one stage, but such was the extent of their tactical adjustments that they finished with an eight points winning margin, denying the Ulster lads the glory of winning a third successive title.
The holders raced into a four-point lead, Shea McDermott landing a two point free from 50 metres, and it wasn’t until the eighth minute that Kirby got the Kingdom off the mark, quickly followed by an Eoin O’Flaherty effort.
But the Red Hands struck for a brilliant eleventh minute goal, Adrian McGurren slipping a pass to McDermott as he arrived at pace to strike low and accurately past Kacper Robak.
The clever movement of their attack had the Kerry defence reeling as McGurren, McDermott and Peter Colton picked off points to push their eight clear, 1-07 to 0-02, by the 18th minute.
But Kerry got their kick-out strategy sorted, with midfielders Kirby and Boyle claiming a string of possessions, the latter plucking a Robak long restart out the sky to float over a two-pointer.
That was the spark that fired their strong finish to the half, as they shot 0-05 without reply to trim it back to two.
Substitute Killian Dennehy, Kirby and Boyle added scores, and at the break, Tyrone led narrowly by 1-08 to 0-09.
Kick-out dominance continued after the restart, and it was Kirby wo edged Kerry in front in the 39th minute.
It was a lead they never looked like losing, and with White helping them control the pace of the game, they were in cruise control.
The centre-forward landed a 46m free for a two-pointer, and wing-back Pa Walsh had them four ahead by the time Tyrone registered the first of their two second half points, both of them scored by McDermott.
The Kingdom defence faced little threat during that second period, but goalkeeper Robak had to be alert to keep out an angled shot from McGurren.
White raised another orange flag from a placed ball to push the Kingdom further towards the Tim Clarke Cup, and Tyrone’s fading hopes took another blow when skipper and defensive kingpin Conor Devlin was shown a black card with ten minutes, including stoppage time, to play.
Kerry: K Robak; M Lynch, G Evans, D Stack; E O’Flaherty (0-01), A O Beaglaoich, P Walsh (0-01); D Kirby (0-03), E Boyle (0-03, 1tp); J O’Sullivan (0-01), G White (0-05, 1f, 2tpf), S O Cuinn; R Carroll (0-01), T Kennedy (0-04, 4f), P Lane.
Subs: K Dennehy (0-01) for Lynch (23), D Hogan for Lane (33), J Joy (0-01) for Carroll (45), D Sargent for O Cuinn (51), M McGivergan for O’Sullivan (59)
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 (0-03), P Colton (0-01), S McDermott (1-06, 1f, 1tpf).
Subs: R McCullagh for Colton (34), J Concannon for Muldoon (52), D Donaghy for McGurren (53)
Referee: T Murphy (Galway)
