Cork 1-11 Mayo 1-13
Aidan Kilcoyne led the scoring as Mayo lifted their first Cadbury’s All-Ireland Under-21 Football title since 1983.
The Connacht champions got the better of Cork, who had defender Stephen O’Donoghue sent off, in an end-to-end final in Ennis.
Daniel Goulding’s three-point haul help Cork go in at the break with a 0-07 to 0-04 lead. They pushed the gap to four before Mayo’s Seamus O’Shea was hauled down for a 36th-minute penalty.
Kilcoyne, who finished with 1-06, netted the spot kick at the second attempt. Cork lost O’Donoghue in the 41st-minute but battled to the finish with Goulding scoring 1-04.
CORK: K O’Halloran; R Carey, C Murphy, S O’Donoghue; D Limerick, M Shields, E Cadogan; A O’Connor, P Kelly; F Gould, C Keane, P Kerrigan (capt); D Goulding, P O’Flynn, J Hayes.
Subs used: G O’Shea for Hayes (44 mins), F Lynch for Kelly (52)
MAYO: K O’Malley; T Howley, G Cafferkey, K Higgins (capt); C Barrett, T Cunniffe, C Boyle; S O’Shea, B Moran; A Campbell, J Dillon, A Kilcoyne; M Ronaldson, M Hannick, M Conroy.
Subs used: S Ryan for Boyle (half time), K Costello for Dillon, E Varley for Hannick (both 40 mins)
Yellow cards: Kilcoyne (Mayo) (14 mins), Gould (Cork) (26), Higgins (Mayo) (28), O’Donoghue (Cork) (32), Conroy (Mayo) (60+2); Red card: O’Donoghue (41)
Referee: Joe McQuillan (Cavan)
Scorers: Cork: D Goulding 1-04 (2f), F Gould 0-03 (1 ’45), J Hayes 0-02 (2f), P Kerrigan, C Keane 0-01 each
Mayo: A Kilcoyne 1-06 (1 pen, 4f, 1 sl), M Conroy 0-03, E Varley, K Costello, C Barrett, M Ronaldson 0-01 each