FOOTBALL ANALYST: CORK HAVE to be very annoyed they didn't finish the job here. They dictated affairs more or less from start to finish. Tactically they have improved significantly since last year. Immediately Kerry got possession they were closed down by great team defence, red shirts pressurising the man in possession and at times by deliberate fouling to stop counter-attacks building and prevent Colm Cooper and Kieran Donaghy getting quick ball.

For the possession they had, Cork will be disappointed Daniel Goulding, Ciarán Sheehan and Donncha O’Connor weren’t able to register scores more freely. Paul Kerrigan was always a threat and it took Marc Ó Sé blocking brilliantly on a couple of occasions to limit the damage.

When you look at the availability of the likes of Fintan Goold and Colm O’Neill off the bench maybe Cork need to look again at how they finish some excellent build-up work because apart from Alan O’Connor and Aidan Walsh, not the ideal players to have on the end of goal moves, there were no clear chances created.

They lack a cutting edge and an ability to get the last pass away to a free man in order to open up a tight-marking Kerry defence.

If Kerry, on the other hand, had been able to get sufficient possession into Donaghy and Cooper you felt they would have been taking the scores a little more easily. Donaghy, Declan O’Sullivan and Bryan Sheehan (apart from his frees), were well restricted and only Cooper excelled with very sparse possession.

Yet Cork still couldn’t win and they’ll be rueing a great opportunity missed in Killarney where a win might have psychologically restored belief in their ability to put it up to Kerry in Croke Park. With the steady progression of under-21s with good records against Kerry, you’d expect Cork not to be suffering too many inhibitions but there’s still a sliver of doubt there.

A fully confident team would have moved on, given they had the wind in the second half, and pushed on to put the game beyond doubt.

Experience told towards the end and Kerry had the composure to conjure up the late scores and the assurance of Cooper to finish the chances. Credit them with hanging in as for long periods when they were outplayed. They stayed focused until the end, however, winning vital ball and hitting sensible passes.

It was also impressive when you think of all the players they’re missing since last year. The biggest loss, I think, was Darragh Ó Sé in the middle. Séamus Scanlon looked more confident playing with Darragh when his role was more as a sweeper rather than a primary possession winner. Kerry had to survive with 40 per cent of the play and I’d imagine Jack O’Connor will be looking seriously at Anthony Maher and David Moran.

They were trying to get Donaghy on the ball but it didn’t work because Graham Canty did very well in defending the high ball. Conor Counihan and the Cork management deserve great praise for an excellent game plan, particularly in the first half the way they controlled matters into the wind.

They struck for scores at opportune times and Alan Quirke’s clever kick-outs kept his namesake Micheál out of the game. Cork were also winning the battle for breaking ball around the middle throughout or certainly until Paul Galvin came in and made a telling contribution at the end of the match.

But Cork didn’t avail of the openings they got. Alan O’Connor went for goal even though a fisted point would have been a very valuable score at that stage. Aidan Walsh poked his goal chance badly wide but overall he was impressive. He has the credentials to be an outstanding Cork midfielder in the future, a fabulous spring for the ball and a great engine. He needed just a bit more composure on the ball to seal a very good display.

Overall though, Cork will be quite confident taking the replay back to Páirc Uí­ Chaoimh. Kerry have some soul-searching to do given the extent to which they were outplayed and the problems in the middle of the field. Mike McCarthy also looked to be struggling with injury, although getting Galvin back for next week would be a major bonus.

The obvious desire of both teams to go through the front door will have been sharpened by a weekend in which some awkward-looking names fell into the qualifier draw, which is now looking a very difficult route to travel. That should restore a little of the “do or die” intensity from the past.