MUNSTER SFC/FINAL CORK v KERRY: AT SOME stage during a perfectly normal - if excessively wet and poorly attended - Munster football final, All-Ireland champions Kerry stepped through the looking glass into a weird and distorted world where their initial, easy domination of the match became twisted into something quite unrecognisable.
By half-time the champions led by eight points. Their accumulated losses on the half-forward line had hardly been noticed and Cork's cunning plan to drop a seventh defender back to cope with the quality of Kerry's attack had hardly registered in terms of putting a brake on the scoreboard.
The nadir for the home side probably came in the 49th minute. Although some early scoring after the break had reduced the margin to five, 0-8 to 1-10, Kerry looked to have plenty in the tank and Cork were already down to 14 men after Nicholas Murphy had received a second yellow card five minutes into the second half.
Then Graham Canty, whose totemic value to the team ordains that he play in as many positions as possible to bring his athletic prowess and footballing ability to bear on a variety of emergencies, went down and had to leave the field with what is greatly feared - but yet to be confirmed by scan - to be another cruciate injury for the luckless Cork captain. Two years ago he suffered the same fate in his other knee at the end of the county's previous Munster final win.
But, for whatever reason, Cork kept pecking away at the task and within a couple of minutes the match was back in the undecided column. In retrospect the signs were there that some recovery was possible.
Kerry had been coasting - albeit doing so quite convincingly and in a manner that suggested they could go up the gears as required - and Cork's second-half introduction of Michael Cussen was already beginning to pay out.
Cussen had been a significant factor in Cork's performance in last year's provincial final and did enough in his rookie year to merit an All Star nomination. The questions surrounding him since had more to do with how badly the player himself wanted the whole intercounty involvement rather than his ability to make an impact.
Once Cussen replaced Alan O'Connor he set about fulfilling the role originally designed for him: being the team's Kieran Donaghy. He scored 1-1 from play and provided assists for a further three points. As well as providing a bountiful source of scores the big full forward also provided a readily identifiable target for his team -mates.
In the end, Kerry never got back into the match. Cork's greatly improved ball-winning performance around the middle disrupted the flow into the champions' forwards and the slick facility with which Pat O'Shea's side had cut a path to the Cork goal ground to a halt as having to face the wind reduced the early ball options.
The wheel of fortune also turned. Last season's Footballer of the Year Marc Ó Sé was red-carded in the 51st minute. which evened up the match at 14-a-side. The corner back skidded into a collision with Cork's industrious wing forward Seán O'Brien and referee Derek Fahy dismissed him.
In the dying minutes, Ó Sé's brother Darragh followed him to the line after picking up a second yellow card. Manager Pat O'Shea didn't make a major issue out of the losses but said neither incident merited a free, let alone a card. By the departure of Darragh Ó Sé the match had slipped away from the champions but at the conclusion they were missing three current All Stars and their captain and the loss of critical mass was plain.
It hadn't looked that way in the first half. Cork's use of Canty as a sweeper seemed only to concede the battle to Kerry's half backs. The champions' forwards looked sharp and newcomer Donncha Walsh understudied for Declan O'Sullivan so effectively that he got a creditable 1-2 from play.
His goal was created by Donaghy who took a pass from Seán O'Sullivan and made some hard progress (while being illegally restrained) before laying off the ball for Walsh to palm to the net.
At the end of the first quarter Kerry led by six, 1-5 to 0-2, and worse, from a Cork perspective, the challengers didn't appear capable of taking sufficient chances to stay in touch despite a number of opportunities. The teams turned around with Kerry 1-8 to 0-3 in front and the match to all intents and purposes looked finished. But the slight slackening of effort detectable in the second quarter became a crisis of inactivity for Kerry after the break.
Cork reverted to orthodox configuration and Cussen's arrival gave them the means of resistance and his team-mates responded. The backs hadn't done badly in the first half but had been leaking under the pressure of Kerry's precise attacks.
Diarmuid Duggan, Anthony Lynch and Brian O'Regan tidied up loose ball with growing efficiency and at centrefield, despite getting through three of their personnel - Alan O'Connor was withdrawn, Canty injured and Murphy dismissed - Cork steadied the ship, with Pearse O'Neill marking Darragh Ó Sé and Derek Kavanagh moving out to the middle.
Manager Conor Counihan had great success with his replacements - all four of them scoring - as the match was transformed. Just a minute after Canty's departure, Cussen got a touch to a high dropping delivery from Ger Spillane to cut the margin to two, 1-8 to 1-10.
Kerry seemed unable to resist the negative momentum and scored only three points in the second half. Cork's starting full forwards, whose radar had malfunctioned in the first half, came into the match, with Donncha O'Connor relocating the fine form he generally brings into this fixture and Daniel Goulding also finding his range.
Replacements Fintan Goold, James Masters and Paul Kerrigan all scored points. Kerry had resisted Cork's first move in front by equalising at 1-11 but thereafter the match just surged past and on into the jubilation of a most unexpected presentation ceremony.
CORK: 1 A Quirke; 2 D Duggan, 9 D Kavanagh, 7 A Lynch; 5 B O'Regan, 6 G Spillane, 4 K O'Connor; 8 A O'Connor, 10 N Murphy; 3 G Canty, 11 P O'Neill, 12 S O'Brien; 13 D Goulding (0-7, four frees), 14 D O'Connor (0-4, two frees), 15 J Hayes (0-1). Subs: 27 M Cussen (1-1) for A O'Connor (half-time), 22 F Goold (0-1) for Canty (49 mins), 24 J Masters (0-1) for O'Brien (54 mins), 26 P Kerrigan (0-1) for Gooulding (70 mins).
KERRY: 1 D Murphy; 4 P Reidy, 3 T O'Sullivan, 2 M Ó Sé; 6 A O'Mahony, 5 T Ó Sé (0-1), 7 K Young; 8 D Ó Sé (0-1), 9 S Scanlon; 12 S O'Sullivan (0-1), 10 D Walsh (1-2), 11 E Brosnan; 13 C Cooper (0-3, two frees), 14 K Donaghy, 15 B Sheehan (0-3, two frees). Subs: 18 Darren O'Sullivan for D Walsh (43 mins), 17 T Griffin for Brosnan (59 mins), 19 T Walsh for S O'Sullivan (65 mins).
YELLOW CARDS: Cork: D O'Connor (32 mins), Murphy (34 mins and 40 mins), O'Neill (37 mins), Kavanagh (45 mins), K O'Connor (66 mins); Kerry: S Scanlon (29 mins), O'Mahony (33 mins), D Ó Sé (37 mins and 68 mins), D Walsh (38 mins), T Walsh (66 mins). RED CARDS: Cork: Murphy (40 mins); Kerry: M Ó Sé (52 mins), D Ó Sé (68 mins).
Referee: D Fahy (Longford).
Attendance: 22,784.
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