Kingdom nearly dethroned

Munster SFC Final/ Kerry 0-10 Cork 0-10: Just when we least expected it, the Bank of Ireland Munster football final blew up in our faces. Under the blazing sun in Fitzgerald Stadium, Cork and Kerry conformed to the back marker script that had the former delivering a fast and furious performance with the champions still stuttering in search of ignition.

Ultimately, it was nearly enough for Billy Morgan's men and probably would have sufficed, but for the watershed moment just after the half-hour when Anthony Lynch threw an elbow at Kieran Donaghy to send Cork in at half-time down to 14 men.

And with the timer nearly emptied, James Masters' stab shot in a crowded goalmouth appeared to have flown over to give Cork the title, but after some confusion referee Joe McQuillan disallowed the score.

Cork started as if they had absorbed the modern Ulster manual in its entirety. The whole team hunted in packs, badgered Kerry on the ball and came haring out in support of the ball carrier when they turned over possession. Seán O'Brien played deep and was repeatedly available to help sweep the ball out of defence and up the field.

The full-back line was particularly impressive. Michael Prout didn't put a foot wrong from the moment in the fifth minute when he confronted teenage debutant Paul O'Connor, covered his jinking approach and calmly dispossessed the youngster.

Kieran O'Connor exploited his forward positioning - he was marking Declan O'Sullivan, who had been named at centre forward, started at full forward, but occupied his usual central corridor once the match was off - to get forward for a point after making an intelligent run off the ball.

Although Masters' status as the team's only major strike forward went undisputed on the day - the energy and movement of his colleagues kept Kerry stretched and increasingly nervous. Slowly, the crowd watched a big upset taking shape.

Cork were hungry whereas Kerry looked troubled by their opponents' commitment and refusal to accept their widely expected fate. In the 21st minute Donncha O'Connor stroked a precise shot past Diarmuid Murphy only for it to ping back off the inside of the post and run to safety.

Again the champions' attack malfunctioned with Colm Cooper failing to score from play in a third successive championship match. Ably marked by the excellent Graham Canty, who at one stage dispossessed both his man and Paul O'Connor in the one move, Cooper worked hard and ended up playing deep where he made good use of the ball - but Kerry need him prolifically banging in 1-4 and 1-5 rather than joining the ranks of the hewers and drawers.

Buoyed by the success of their kinetic game-plan, Cork began to believe. Incrementally, the scoreboard ticked over - three up on seven minutes, five-one ahead on 15 and seven-one on the half-hour just after Kieran O'Connor's opportunistic point.

Then came the turning point. In the 33rd minute a Kerry attack was grinding to a halt on the left wing when a fracas culminated in Lynch swinging his elbow at and hitting Donaghy. It was a fatal lapse for the accomplished wing back, who had been successfully wound up by Paul Galvin's niggling obstruction every time he tried to get forward.

Immediately, the impact of losing such an influential player could be seen and, in the minutes before half-time, Kerry capitalised on their challengers' initial shock to clip over three points and cut the deficit to four, 0-4 to 0-7. It felt as if all the good had gone out of the half for Cork. Kerry's adroit recovery and the prospect of their playing a man short depressed expectations.

On the restart, the champions were more attuned to the pace of the game and covered back in numbers themselves with full back Michael McCarthy frequently the free man. Darragh Ó Sé and Donaghy took a grip on centrefield against Derek Kavanagh, Nicholas Murphy and, subsequently, Pierce O'Neill.

Darren O'Sullivan replaced Paul O'Connor and his lively running singed Cork, drawing a 39th-minute foul for Bryan Sheehan to narrow the deficit further, playing a substantial role in three points. But Cork, with Owen Sexton in for Donncha O'Connor to cover for Lynch, refused to wilt.

Masters nailed two frees in the 42nd and 44th minutes and, although Kerry retrieved those points, the match moved into the final quarter with Cork still two points ahead.

Remarkably, the match looked to be turning again when, in quick succession, both Sheehan and Cooper fluffed free-kicks well within their competence and a minute later in the 54th, Donaghy was yellow carded for the second time and duly dismissed.

Now Cork had parity and two points in hand, but it was Kerry's turn to rally. Galvin pointed and then Eoin Brosnan's shot on goal was athletically blocked by Ger Spillane whose indefatigable running both as defensive cover and attacking centre back in the second half earned him RTÉ's Man of the Match accolade. But Sheehan pointed the resulting '45.

Although Sheehan hit the post with another free, he made amends by slotting what looked like the winner in the 66th minute, getting on the end of Cooper's pass. Masters converted a free in the last minute and, although injury-time threw up another talking point, it was free of further scores.

The replay will be next Sunday in Páirc Ui Chaoimh.

KERRY: 1 D Murphy; 2 A O'Mahony, 3 M McCarthy, 4 M Ó Sé; 5 T Ó Sé, 6 S Moynihan, 7 M Lyons; 8 D Ó Sé, 9 K Donaghy; 10 P Galvin (0-1), 12 E Brosnan, 14 B Sheehan (0-6, three frees, one 45); 13 C Cooper (0-1, free), 11 D O'Sullivan (capt; 0-1), 15 P O'Connor. Subs: 17 T O'Sullivan for Lyons (23 mins), 18 Darren O'Sullivan (0-1) for O'Connor (half-time), 20 T Griffin for T Ó Sé (70 mins). Yellow cards: S Moynihan (26 mins), A O'Mahony (29 mins), K Donaghy (43 and 54 mins). Red cards: Donaghy (54 mins).

CORK: 1 A Quirke; 2 M Prout, 4 K O'Connor (0-1), 3 G Canty; 5 M Shields, 6 G Spillane, 7 A Lynch; 8 N Murphy, 9 D Kavanagh (capt); 10 S O'Brien, 11 P O'Neill, 12 K McMahon (0-1); 13 J Masters (0-7, three frees), 14 F Goold (0-1), 15 D O'Connor. Subs: 27 O Sexton for D O'Connor (half-time), 28 K O'Sullivan for O'Brien (61 mins), 21 C McCarthy for O'Neill (68 mins), 20 T Niblock for Goold (68 mins). Yellow cards: F Goold (29 mins). Red cards: A Lynch (33 mins).

Referee: J McQuillan (Cavan).