Kerry 0-19 Cork 1-13
Kerry are through to the All-Ireland quarter-finals after defeating Cork in a thrilling Munster final at Pairc Ui Chaoimh this afternoon.
Kerry outlined serious championship intent but needed a silky performance throughout the 70 minutes to counteract Cork’s hard grafting and competitive approach to the game.
Aodhan MacGearailt kicked Kerry into a three point lead midway through the second half but Colm Corkery, scorer of 8 points (4 frees) proceeded to bridge the gap to two.
Second half substitute Aidan Dorgan then went on a clever run and pointed to reduce the deficit to the minimum with seven minutes remaining.
However the excellent Dara O’Cinneide pointed from a free to hand the initiative back to Paidi O’Se’s team.
Cork’s Brendan Jer O’Sullivan gave Cork fans something to shout about with a well taken free with 3 minutes to play.
Cork, however, could not retain possession from the restart and were punished again with a Mike Frank Russell point, his second. Adding to that, O’Cinneide then recorded his ninth and final point of the day to seal the victory.
The first half was dominated by both sets of forwards whose imaginative interchange was rewarded with tremendous scoring accuracy.
Cork were off to a great start after centre forward Joe Kavanagh netted soccer style in the opening minutes.
Colm Corkery, who scored 6 of his eight points in the first half, added to that total with two dead ball efforts.
Kerry, however, replied with true champions spirit and Cork struggled to contain Kerry’s free flowing attack during a blinding ten minute spell early in the half.
Dara O’Cinneide (3 frees), John Crowley and Noel Kennelly all registered scores to bring the All-Ireland champions back into the game.
Cork attacks were becoming limited as the Kerry midfield reigned supreme, but the Rebels kept in touch with their opponents through the boot of Corkery.
The teams were level on four occasions during an exciting first half. A Joe Kavanagh point two minutes from half-time brought the sides on a par for the third time.
O’Cinneide pointed from a free before a well taken point from Cork corner forward Philip Clifford levelled the game 1-8 to 0-11 at the break.