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27th May 2025
11:44am BST
While most of the attention was on the seniors defeating Donegal on Saturday, Tyrone may have unearthed a gem in Joel Kerr.
The youngster won man of the match in the Ulster Minor Football Championship final, as the Red Hands achieved a 2-11 to 1-8 win over Cavan, with Kerr scoring 1-2 in the process.
The highlight of his day was a magnificent solo run to set up Cathal Farley for a goal, a clip which was caught superbly by the cameras at the game.
However, such are the talents of the man that he has signed a contract with West Ham until 2028, having impressed scouts while playing for Glentoran's underage sides.
According to Balls.ie, the 16-year-old will join the Hammers this summer.
He has represented Northern Ireland at underage, but hopefully he can be enticed to play down south.
After the big win for the seniors, boss Malachy O'Rourke said: “We just held our composure, held our nerve, worked really hard for each other and got some quality scores and just glad we did,” O’Rourke said as Tyrone began the All-Ireland group phase with a priceless win.
“We just knew that we were going to have to have a lot of things go for us: We’re going to have to play really well, but we're gonna have to show an awful lot of grit and an awful lot of character and just fight for every ball and fight for each other if we want to get anything out of it.
“And I’m just pleased to see that the boys did that, you know, every one of them, and as I say, one of the most pleasing things was, the game looked to be going away from us on a couple of occasions.
“The boys weren’t prepared to do that and we just kept battling and showed brilliant character and showed great composure to eke out the win and we’re delighted with that.
“That’s what we’re trying to grow; a really strong panel and everybody fighting for a place and so it’s a great step forward tonight.”
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