Kerry 3-13 Cork 1-9:Outgoing GAA director general Liam Mulvihill was asked to present Kerry captain Declan O'Sullivan with the Sam Maguire. It was a nice gesture by association president Nickey Brennan to mark the last All-Ireland final of Mulvihill's 29 years. In the great stadium the construction of which he had administered, Mulvihill may have reflected that some things don't change.

His first final saw Kerry destroy Dublin in 1979; in yesterday's Bank of Ireland All-Ireland climax it was Cork's turn to feel the lash and by an almost identical scoreline - 28 years ago Kerry also scored 3-13 and Dublin managed just 1-8.

Cork's collectivism, which has been a strength on better days, lacked the individual leadership figures to react to the enveloping trauma whereas Kerry were able to mobilise their prolific scorers of the past two years, Colm Cooper and Kieran Donaghy, plus the warrior presence of Darragh Ó Sé.

The latter mocked suggestions he might be unable to stage another dominant performance on the big day with a driven afternoon that made ribbons of Kerry's anticipated problems at centrefield as well as of Nicholas Murphy's Footballer of the Year ambitions.

So the champions became the first county to retain the title in 17 years, relieving their neighbours of that distinction - one of the many indignities to befall Cork on an afternoon when their challenge disintegrated long before the final whistle.

Kerry's more potent forwards delivered the hammer blows that broke their opponents but all around the field they shattered the widespread illusion of Cork superiority in positions 1-9 and, defenders sharp and hungry, comfortably coped with what limited raids were mounted on their own goal.

Admittedly the first two goals, which effectively ended the match, were the product of defensive errors but once they had the initiative there was no way Kerry were going to relinquish it. The path by which Cork might have won the match was a narrow enough channel that required a tight match with little leeway for open football and scrappily incremental scoring. With the differential in scoring power up front, it was always going to be asking too much of Billy Morgan's team to chase a deficit of much more than three points.

For the opening quarter Cork's game plan was proceeding cautiously. In fact the entire first half was pretty awful, averaging more than a foul a minute. But despite that lack of flow and the fact they won more possession, Cork were already creaking going in at the break.

The big departure from the challengers' preferred script came on the cusp of the second quarter when the very thing Cork needed to prevent, a needlessly conceded goal, tilted the match in the favourites' direction. Séamus Scanlon dropped a long ball towards the square. Cork goalkeeper Alan Quirke has a five-inch advantage on Colm Cooper but the Kerry forward timed his run well, got up ahead of Kieran O'Connor and also beat Quirke, who will be unhappy with his lack of physical aggression under the ball, to net the opening goal. That opened a three-point lead, 1-3 to 0-3, that was never lost.

But even up to that point there were problems brewing for Cork. Despite their superior possession they never looked comfortable. It wasn't any surprise they attempted to run the ball in short-passing movements but there was little conviction about the play, which should be second nature to them.

Instead errors in possession resulted in either turned-over possession or attacking moves drained of momentum. General movement was poor and unthreatening and on two occasions wing back John Miskella visibly gestured for options when taking the ball out of defence.

Furthermore the selection gambles taken by Cork management didn't pay off. James Masters, in after recovering from a broken jaw that kept him out of the semi-final, kicked most of his frees but was unable to get much change out of Pádraig Reidy, the talented Kerry corner back, and at half-time Cork had to make a change and send Daniel Goulding on for Masters, in a reversal of the selection that saw the under-21 forward dropped for the final.

Similarly Conor McCarthy, called in at wing forward, struggled to replicate his good form this season as an impact sub when starting and had to be replaced.

In the foul-ridden first half Kerry weren't at full tilt either and actually went 13 minutes without scoring, kicking some poor wides and dropping shots short into Quirke's arms. But the three-point margin was a daunting one for Cork after having had enough possession to break even. It could have been worse. Cooper, who otherwise gave such an assured and dazzling display that he probably fast-tracked himself into late Footballer of the Year contention, ghosted through the defence and despite being fouled by O'Connor blazed over when a goal chance beckoned.

Cooper prompted a rethink in the Cork defence. Graham Canty had been acquitting himself well on Kieran Donaghy and, miscalculating that the big full forward had been tamed, Morgan switched his inspirational full back out to do a job on the rampant Cooper.

The scale of the miscalculation became apparent in the third quarter when Donaghy went to town. Cork looked delicate on the restart with Masters gone and the need to start well an imperative. Instead within a minute they had coughed up one of the most harrowing goals since Paddy Cullen obligingly vacated his net for Mikey Sheehy in 1978.

Running a lateral move out of defence, Cork passed the ball across goal to centre back Ger Spillane who headed for open country with Quirke coming out in support to take the pass. Donaghy moved in and, with what he explained was a standard basketball move, completely dispossessed the defender.

To compare it to taking candy off a baby would underestimate infants' appetite for sweets.

Donaghy then slid the ball into a net that yawned as empty as Cork's realistic ambitions with the whole second half to come. For the third quarter Cork disappeared into an abyss of panic and unforced errors. The only question for the second half was whether the final margin would be in double figures or not.

It could have been 20 had Kerry been less indulgent about exploiting their superiority. Declan O'Sullivan sacrificed the scintillating attacking game of recent matches to play a deeper role but had he decided to have a go as a conventional centre forward there would have been carnage.

As it was, Donaghy rose above Quirke and Shields in the 49th minute to break the ball down for himself in front of yet another empty goal for a 3-10 to 0-7 lead before Goulding finished well four minutes later to cancel out the concession. Anthony Lynch was brought in by Cork after a week full of speculation about his broken hand but there wasn't much he was going to accomplish at that stage.

Kerry were able to leave Cooper in acres of space and a beleaguered Canty trying to prevent further damage. By the end the champions had destroyed their greatest rivals and exposed them as pretenders in football's eternal kingdom.