Hyland’s perfect 10 gives Kildare edge over Mayo in thriller

JIMMY HYLAND kicked 10 points as Kildare edged a thriller with Mayo to claim the inaugural All-Ireland Under 20 football title. The corner-forward, a starter for the Lilywhites in this year’s Allianz League, fired all but two of his points from play to seal a famous win. The Leinster champions laid the platform for victory with a brilliant opening 20 minutes. They hit 1-9 and moved seven points clear, registering just one wide. Brian McLoughlin netted during that early blitz as Davy Burke’s side backed up their semi-final win over Kerry ‘I’m just over the moon. It was an unreal team performance,’ Hyland said. ‘In the first 20 minutes we just didn’t miss, it was a real team effort and the backs just tackled so hard, I’m just delighted.’ Mayo fought all the way and reduced a six-point deficit, with seven minutes remaining, to just two in injury-time. But they lost midfielder Jordan Flynn to a straight red card in the 60th minute and Cathal Horan saw black soon after. Flynn could be facing a large suspension as he shoved referee Niall Cullen before leaving the pitch in frustration. Aaron Masterson had a huge game for Kildare at midfield and lofted over their opening score after just 23 minutes in a thrilla-minute encounter. There were 24 scores registered in the first 30 minutes alone — two of those goals — as both attack-minded sides went at it. Kildare led at that stage and hit the interval with a 1-13 to 1-9 advantage though they felt they should have been further clear. They dominated Mayo at times in the opening half and roared 1-9 to 0-5 clear after that 20minute purple patch. Kildare’s full-forward line of McLoughlin, Hyland and Paddy Woodgate finished the half with 1-9 between them with the team bagging 1-14 in total. Mayo grabbed a 23rd minute goal through captain Ryan O’Donoghue. Free-taker Ross Egan also clipped three points from placed balls as Mayo ran at Kildare’s defence and forced them into conceding fouls. Kildare finished the job with a blistering scoring run between the 37th and 46th minutes when they hit four points without reply, all of them from Hyland.