All-Ireland semi-finals: They may have gone about it the hard way, but Kerry finally got the better of neighbours Cork at Croke Park this afternoon. Having once again thrown away a seemingly unassailable lead, Kerry hit back through Colm Cooper to book their place in another All-Ireland final with a 3-14 to 2-13 win.
The defending champions will meet 2005 winners Tyrone after Mickey Harte's side comfortably overcame Wexford 0-23 to 1-14.
Kerry will wonder what exactly they have to do to shake this Cork outfit after both sides served up another classic at headquarters. Having come up short against Conor Counihan's side all summer, the Kingdom again appeared to be cruising only for Cork to draw level as time ebbed away.
But it was Cooper, who finished with a magnificent 1-8, who had the final say on this occasion as his goal four minutes from time eventually broke the Cork resistance.
Cork had started the brighter of the sides but wave after wave of attack resulted in the ball being skewed horribly wide. And while Kerry were not exactly clinical at the other end, they were certainly less wasteful.
Cork's problems in finding the target were compounded as the supply of ball began to dry up. Seamus Scanlon and Micheal Quirke started to take control of the midfield area and after Tommy Walsh underlined his class with a coolly taken goal on 25 minutes Kerry went on to open a 1-8 to 0-3 advantage.
Firmly in control, Kerry would have hoped to take that eight-point cushion into the interval but on the stroke of half-time the hitherto anonymous Daniel Goulding fired Cork back into the contest with a brilliantly taken goal.
Declan O'Sullivan may have hit back with Kerry's second goal immediately after the break but Cork, with giant full forward Michael Cussen switched to midfield, gradually rediscovered a sense of cohesion and, little-by-little, whittled that lead away.
Kerry, for once, were bereft of ideas and when Pearse O'Neill levelled matters with seven minutes Cork looked the likely winners. Until Cooper's intervention, that is, as his close range effort sealed a seventh All-Ireland final appearance in 10 years for Pat O'Shea's men.
Tyrone will once again provide the opposition in September's decider with Kerry afforded the opportunity to avenge the 2005 defeat at the hands Harte's side.
The Red Hand county ran out easy winners against Jason Ryan's surprise packages but, having dominated the first period, had it far from all their own way in a competitive second half.
And Harte will no doubt be waiting anxiously for an update on the injury sustained by Sean Cavanagh. The converted full forward was carried from the pitch with 20 minutes remaining with what appeared to be a back problem.