Cork 1-17 Kerry 0-12:They have been whispering it in Cork for a while but eventually they know the dominance Kerry footballers hold over them will come to an end. It may well have occurred in the Páirc as Jack O'Connor's men are sent away to try and reconfigure their All-Ireland challenge. Cork go into the Munster final against Limerick on July 5th after a ruthless and highly competent display in the Munster semi-final replay.
The match was delayed by 15 minutes for safety reasons due to congestion at the turnstiles but after the traditional pomp and ceremony in Páirc U Chaoimh - where Doug Howlett was visible in his Cork jersey amongst the 30,270 enthusiastic spectators - and after essential changes on either side, Cork went about putting the final nail in Kerry’s provincial aspirations.
Cork are a young, energetic team while the aging Darragh O’Se came back into the Kerry midfield where he was anonymous during the opening 35 minutes. The same can be said of Tommy Walsh; a surprising start after suffering ankle damage last week. Add Colm Cooper to the list as well but that was down to excellent, textbook man marking by Anthony Lynch.
In the opening period Cork rattled up nine points, primarily through the shooting exploits of Daniel Goulding and Donnacha O’Connor. Kerry were having a nightmare in most departments but an inspirational score from Tadhg Kennelly, much like his championship debut last week, kept them five points adrift at the turn.
There was another issue as the well-known hot heads on either team, Noel O’Leary and Paul Galvin, were sent-off by the best referee in the game, Pat McEnaney, after they exchanged blows on 24 minutes. It was miles off the ball, leaving the Monaghan official little option.
Bryan Sheehan was pulled off moments later despite contributing the opening two points for Kerry. O’Connor clearly felt Darren O’Sullivan’s pace was a better option than their main free-taker who, like many of his team-mates, was struggling to make any genuine impact. Marc O’Se failed to return to the field after half-time with suspected hamstring problems.
The Kerry revival came right from the start of the second-half with Darren O’Sullivan pointing before his namesake Declan, Cooper and, to a huge roar of approval from the travelling support, Darragh O’Se registered consecutive points. Suddenly their was life in the Kerry challenge with David Moran coming off the bench to belt over a 45 on 45 minutes that levelled matters.
Cork should have been stunned but nobody told Donnacha O’Connor or Goulding, who combined to see the latter racing down on goal. Pádraig Reidy pulled him down and O’Connor stepped up to make it a three point game with a well struck goal from the resulting penalty.
Goulding then won and punted a free to make it a four point difference. Cooper knocked over two short-range frees but they were facing a superior team in fine tuned form. Just as you were beginning to wonder why Conor Counihan was keeping Nemo Rangers forward James Masters in the action, the Garda landed a massive point.
By this stage Kerry had unloaded their bench with Moran, Aidan OShea and, most tellingly, Eoin Brosnan replacing Darragh O’Se on 56 minutes. It made little difference.
In contrast, Cork’s replacements were proving more effective with Paul O’Flynn slipping into the action and pointing just before Goulding spurned a goal chance his shot bouncing off the post and wide. O’Connor tacked on another Cork score entering the last ten minutes to make it 1-13 to 0-11; the Kerry revival well and truly quelled despite the valiant efforts of Darren O’Sullivan and Kennelly.
Goulding recovered from the missed chance, flipping off the attentions of Tom O’Sullivan and bag another point.
Then, with about five minutes remaining, the life drained out of the contest. Cork led by seven points and were dominating possession. Graham Canty and man-of-the-match Lynch (so rare that a corner back gets the nod but utterly deserved) were regal in defence. Fintan Gould came in and assisted the magnificent work of Goulding and O’Connor. The former putting an exclamation mark on the evening’s work with a point in injury time.
Cork footballers are finally becoming household names again. Kerry will enliven the qualifiers for only the second time in seven years. They will have an input in this year’s championship with the feeling, in keeping with the theme of recent seasons, that these two will meet again later in the summer, maybe even September. The difference this time is Cork. They are not the pushovers of those recent campaigns, having matured into a serious contenders for Tyrone’s All-Ireland title.
CORK: A Quirke; R Carey, M Shields, A Lynch; J Miskella, G Canty, N O'Leary; A O'Connor, N Murphy; P Kelly, P O'Neill, P Kerrigan; D Goulding, J Masters, D O'Connor.
KERRY: D Murphy; M S, T O'Sullivan, P Reidy; T S, A O'Mahony, K Young; D S, T Griffin; P Galvin, Declan O'Sullivan, T Kennelly; C Cooper, T Walsh, B Sheehan.
Referee: Pat McEnaney (Monaghan).