Kerry 0-13 Cork 1-10:For the guts of an hour in Killarney it looked like Cork were destined for another Munster final appearance but a storming last quarter from Kerry, led by substitute Brian Sheehan, ensured there was no winner in the latest duel between the old enemies who will have to meet again to write another chapter in their rivalry.
Cork’s smothering defence and a timely goal from Pearse O’Neill had ensured control of the game by the break and their three point lead was stretched to five in the second half.
There looked no way back for a Kerry side that had misfired all afternoon and struggled to get a clear sight of goal, thanks largely to efforts of Michael Shields and Anthony Lynch in the Rebels full back line.
Sheehan, who was initially introduced as blood substitute for Darren O’Sullivan, then came on to score five points, including a pressure free at the death to take the game to a replay, set for next Saturday at Pairc Ui Chaoimh.
"We showed some battling qualities in the second half but we gave ourselves a mountain to climb," said Kerry manager Jack O'Connor afterwards.
"I thought we were sluggish early on and Cork hit the ground running. They were all that we expected.They are a team that is full of running, they certainly have great legs all over the field and we;ve had to say they were a real handful.
"We're happy enough to get out of here with a draw, we looked beaten half way through the second half."
Limerick await the eventual victor in the final after a four-point win over Clare at Cusack Park later in the afternoon.
At Fitzgerald Stadium, Cork were hungrier from the off, winning a free from the throw-in which set Graham Canty scampering through the middle to fist over the bar and open the scoring.
A Donncha O’Callaghan free then doubled the lead as the Rebels set of at pace.
Nothing went right for Kerry early on. Cork defended from the front and the Kingdom initially had difficulty get the ball down the pitch, despite the best efforts of Paul Galvin.
When they did, Colm Cooper and Tommy Walsh failed to take early chances, but the latter eventually got them off the mark before Donnacha Walsh levelled the scores.
Kerry had to work hard for it though and after Tommy Walsh was forced off through injury, the onus was on Cooper. But the Gooch was misfiring under pressure from the excellent Lynch, whose brilliant block down of a Galvin effort typified Cork’s desire.
Worse still, was the arrival of a Cork goal immediately after Darragh O’Se’s introduction for Walsh. With Kerry seemingly distracted nobody had the legs or the wit to track Pearse O’Neill’s surging run and the centre forward latched on to Paul Kerrigan’s superbly timed hand-pass to make no mistake from close range.
Daniel Goulding then opted to fist over when a shot at goal looked on but the Cork lead was now four and Kerry looked short of ideas.
Tommy Griffin, though, was beginning to impose himself on the game and his bursts through middle caused problems for Cork and led directly to points from Michael Shields free and Dara O’Se.
With the gap reduced to two, Kerry were given the opportunity to take a lead they scarcely deserved when Marc O’Se’s brilliant run ended with a hand pass in the box to Darren O’Sullivan, who was clumsily pushed in the back by Ger Spillane.
Cooper stepped up to take the penalty, but again he shot badly wide and after the yellow-carded Spillane was replaced by Noel O’Leary, Donncha O’Connor put three points between the teams with another free for Cork.
Goulding was first to find his mark after the break, but Sheehan announced himself immediately after replacing Darren O’Sullivan.
Paddy Kelly then missed a golden opportunity to hit the net when he shot tamely past Diarmuid Murphy’s right hand post and Cooper finally lost Lynch to find his range with a quality point.
Back-to-back points from O’Connor and O’Neill, however, gave Cork a five-point lead, but it prompted Kerry into an unlikely fightback.
Sheehan grabbed his second before Tadhg Kennelly, quiet throughout, sent over a booming point to get the Kerry fans on their feet and signal a call to arms.
Sheehan answered it with one from play and then a free, before Cooper dug a point out of nowhere when being hounded by Lynch and Shields.
Former Cork under-21 star Cormac O’Sullivan looked to have won it when he kept his nerve to fire over a 45, minutes after coming on to the pitch, but Sheehan showed his bottle in injury time after a cheap free was given away by the Cork defence.
To be continued.
Kerry:D Murphy; M O'Se, T O'Sullivan, P Reidy; T O'Se, T Griffin, A O'Mahony; T Kennelly (0-1), M Quirke; Darren O'Sullivan, Donnacha Walsh (0-2), P Galvin; C Cooper (0-3, 1 free), Tommy Walsh (0-1), Declan O'Sullivan. Substitutes: Darragh O'Se (0-1) for T Walsh (11 mins inj.), B Sheehan (0-5, 4 frees) for Darren O'Sullivan, Darran O'Sullivan for D Walsh (48 mins), D Moran for M Quirke (48 mins), BJ Walsh for Darran O'Sullivan (57 mins inj.), S O'Sullivan for T Kennelly (70 mins).
Cork:A Quirke: J Miskella, M Shields, A Lynch; Kieran O'Connor, G Canty (0-1), G Spillane; A O'Connor, N Murphy; P Kelly, P O'Neill (1-2), P Kerrigan; D Goulding (0-2), J Masters, Donnacha O'Connor (0-3 frees). Substitutes: M Cussen for J Masters (25 mins), N O'Leary (0-1) for G Spillane (33 mins), N O'Donovan for J Miskella (44 mins), B O' Regan for K O'Connor (62 mins), C O'Neill (0-1 50) for D Goulding (66 mins).
Referee:M Deegan (Laois).