Kerry bounced back from their McGrath Cup final defeat to Cork with a deserved win over their neighbours in Pairc Ui Rinn.
In a relatively tame affair as far as meetings between the two sides go, Kerry sealed the win with a flurry of points in the second half.
Mike Frank Russell was at the heart of everything for the Kingdom and bagged a personal haul of five points against a depleted Cork side.
Colm Cooper was also a thorn in Cork’s side, scoring three points, including a sublime effort after the break when he turned the Cork defence inside out before popping it over the bar.