Munster SFC Final replay/Analysis: End of an era? Maybe not but certainly the end of this Kerry team as we know it. The panel has enough strength in depth to make changes, especially in the half-forward line, where they were completely overrun by the Cork half backs.

Before digressing any further into what ails Kerry I must pay due credit to the Cork team Billy Morgan has assembled this year. Kerry people knew very little of the new players coming up to Killarney two weeks ago so they were written off as no hopers long before a ball was even kicked.

Cork coped better with the sweltering heat over the 70 minutes and they are a hungrier team. They were first to every ball early on and created more chances. If young Donnacha O'Connor had brought his shooting boots to The Park he could have done some serious damage.

Their over-reliance on James Masters remains a problem but at least they were able to get ball to him in space, unlike Kerry's attempts to supply the misfiring Colm Cooper.

Masters reminds me of Mikey Sheehy in the way he strikes the ball over the bar with an almost effortless swing of the left boot. Mike McCarthy had a tough day.

Masters' goal also proved the defining moment of the game as Kerry never really looked capable of replying with one of their own. Accept maybe a great run from Tommy Griffin.

Cork's half-back line of Michael Shields, Ger Spillane and the excellent Anthony Lynch laid the groundwork for victory. They utterly dominated Eamon Fitzmaurice, Declan O'Sullivan and Paul Galvin - who were all substituted, along with Bryan Sheehan - but their contributions to the attack were equally effective.

They thundered into the Kerry defence, rather than soloing out of defence, then passed to a free man in space. The Cork team in general proved more adept at coping with the conditions. Kerry eventually wilted and this exposed gaps, which Masters profited from.

When Kerry introduced Seán O'Sullivan in the second half and moved Darren O'Sullivan to the wing things improved but it wasn't enough as the support play of other Kerry players was so poor. O'Sullivan was forced to put the head down and go it alone nearly every time, while Galvin was completely marginalised by Lynch.

Cooper suffered inside but did win his fair share of possession. A combination of a low confidence levels and the presence of Graham Canty restricted him to a single point from play. It's like watching a great golfer suffer from the yips. The putts just won't drop for the Gooch but I'm sure he will recover.

The loss of Canty through injury would be disastrous for Cork as he is such an important leader, although Lynch admirably filled the fullback role after he was stretchered off.

The central players on the Kerry team didn't hide.

Darragh Ó Sé was tireless in midfield but, with Eoin Brosnan alongside him, he lost a tough battle against the superb fielding of Nicholas Murphy, Derek Kavanagh and Pierce O'Neill. Kieran Donaghy was huge loss. Cork won the majority of the breaks too. Diarmuid Murphy needed to improve his kick-out accuracy from the drawn game but instead some of his angled kicks ended up going straight out. Séamus Moynihan was another to stand up gallantly in the face of adversity but the hard running and high fitness levels of Cork gradually broke through the whole Kerry rearguard.

On such a day replacements become crucial. Kerry's were effective but the Cork subs, Fintan Goold, David Niblock and Kevin O'Sullivan, seamlessly blended into the team on arrival.

The challenge now for Jack O'Connor and the management is to address the deflated morale that comes from defeat to Cork in a Munster final. It will be taken as a severe blow.

Longford is the right game as it gives O'Connor an opportunity to regroup. Laois might have been a bridge too far at this stage.

The path opens up for Cork now but they must discover more scoring forwards to hold pace to September.