Tyrone saw off a late surge from Fingal to win the Nicky Rackard Cup by the bare minimum on a score of 1-17 to 1-16.

Despite trailing 1-15 to 0-11 with 14 minutes left to play, Fingal staged a brave fight back which had everyone on the edge of their seats around Croke Park.

There was little to choose between the sides in the first half. Tyrone led 1-5 to 0-5 after 23 minutes thanks to a Christopher Cross goal, but Fingal fought back to find themselves just one point in arrears at the break. Tyrone 1-8 Fingal 0-10.

The issue looked beyond doubt when consecutive scores from Tyrone captain Damien Casey opened up a seven point lead with 14 minutes to play, but a spirited Fingal comeback reduced the deficit to the minimum when Dave Smyth notched an injury time goal.

Tyrone held out, however, to record their first ever Nicky Rackard Cup triumph.

Tyrone - J Devlin; C McNally (0-1), R Devlin, M O'Gorman; M Grogan, S Donnelly, A Kelly; M Winters (0-1), G Fox; C Grogan (0-1), T Morgan (0-1), C Cross (1-0); M Mulgrew (0-1), D Casey (0-8, 4f), G Gilmore (0-4). Subs: M Devlin for M Winters, D Marshall for G Gilmore.

Fingal - H Murray Hession; P Coyne, N Ring, A Morris; B Kelly, D Vaughan, I Kennedy; D Hattie, P Sheridan; D Kelly (0-1), A Richardson, P Daly; C O'Flynn (0-1), D Smyth (1-2), JM Sheridan (0-10, 6f, 2'65). Subs: D Butterly (0-1) for A Richardson, C Foley (0-1) for D Kelly

Referee - D O'Driscoll. Tweet

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