Captain David Clifford netted four times as Kerry roared to an emphatic 6-17 to 1-8 victory over Derry in the Croke Park sunshine.

Man of the Match Clifford (4-4) grabbed a brace of goals in either half, while his namesake Fiachra Clifford also netted twice for the magnificent Kingdom, who have now won the last four All-Ireland minor football titles.

Clifford, who had notched 4-38 en route to today's decider, was immense before (and after) the break, slotting 2-3 to help the winners take an unassailable twelve-point interval advantage, 3-8 to 0-5. The Kingdom's unstoppable No.11 set the tone when he rounded his marker to fire low to the bottom left corner of the Hill 16 net inside ten seconds and he effectively put the game to bed when bagging his second three-pointer on 14 minutes before picking out Fiachra Clifford, who drilled home a sweet left-footed finish which made it 3-2 to 0-4 at the midway stage in the first half.

Jack Griffin and Donal O'Sullivan - with his second - pointed either side of a trio of Clifford points as the Munster champions reeled off five unanswered scores to take complete control of proceedings. Richie Mullan and Griffin traded the last two scores before the short whistle.

Oisin McWilliams had delivered Derry's first score in response to Clifford's opener but O'Sullivan and Brian Friel tagged on Kerry points before an Oak Leaf purple patch produced points from Mark McGrogan (2) and McWilliams as they closed within two, 1-2 to 0-4, with twelve minutes played. But winning captain Clifford then took the game by the scruff of the neck.

Upon the restart, O'Sullivan and Lorcan McWilliams (free) traded points before Laune Rangers clubman Fiachra Clifford nonchalantly rolled his second major to the bottom right corner in the sixth minute of the second half - 4-9 to 0-6. Swatragh midfielder McWilliams replied with a sublime point and Derry pulled back a goal of their own on 39 minutes when Paddy Quigg tucked away a penalty which was won by some excellent fielding and powerful running by half-time substitute Callum Brown.

Friel added to the winning tally and Kerry custodian Deividas Uosis executed a fine save to deny the troublesome Brown. The outstanding Clifford completed his hat-trick in the 46^th minute when he gathered a high delivery and planted his shot tidily to the net. Within 90 seconds, the Fossa clubman was at it again, latching onto a breaking ball close to the Derry goal and beating the hapless Oran Hartin for the fourth time - 6-10 to 1-7!

The winning tally swelled further thanks to Friel in the 50^th minute and Adam Donoghue in the 52^nd before substitute Donnchadh O'Sullivan got in on the act with eight minutes remaining. With the match long since over as anything approaching a meaningful contest, Friel swung over a free five minutes later and Man of the Match Clifford stepped inside his man to loft over a 15^th Kerry point in the 60^th minute.

Friel and Quigg exchanged injury-time scores and substitute Eddie Horan completed the scoring as Kerry easily held onto the Tom Markham Cup.

Kerry - D Uosis; S O'Leary, C O'Donoghue, C Gammell; P Warren, M Potts, N Donohue; B Mahony, D O'Connor; A Donoghue (0-2), D Clifford (4-4), Donal O'Sullivan (0-2); F Clifford (2-0), J Griffin (0-2), B Friel (0-5, 1f). Subs: E Horan (0-1) for J Griffin, Donnchadh O'Sullivan (0-1) for Donal O'Sullivan, C O'Reilly for F Clifford, M O'Leary for C Gammell, R O'Neill for N Donohue, M Slattery for A Donoghue.

Derry - O Hartin; O McGill, C McCluskey, S McKeever; S McErlain, P McGrogan, C McShane; O McWilliams (0-2), D Rafferty; P Quigg (1-0pen), R Mullan (0-1), M Bradley; B McCarron, L McWilliams (0-2, 1f), M McGrogan (0-2). Subs: C Brown for D Rafferty, D Cassidy for B McCarron, C Quinn for C McCluskey, O Quinn for C McShane, J Devlin for M McGrogan, T McHugh for R Mullan.

Referee - A Nolan.

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