GAELIC GAMES/Cork 1-12 Kerry 0-8: Cork provided both the floodlights and the electricity at Páirc Uí Rinn last night, as the Allianz National Football League got under way. The home side shocked Kerry with a second-half revival that turned the match on its head and handed the double champions a fruitless start to the season.
Of more concern to Kerry, however, will be the fact that their Footballer of the Year Colm Cooper was taken off on a stretcher at the very end after falling heavily in a challenge for the ball.
Having eased three points clear, 0-7 to 0-4, at the start of the second half with Declan Quill's point 10 minutes after the break, Kerry's effort came to a standstill and they were to score just one one more point - but concede 1-8.
It was an extraordinary turnaround. Maybe Kerry were tired, maybe the wind got to them but Cork seemed to rage against the humiliation their dismal football was bringing on them and tore into the last 25 minutes like men possessed and certainly unrecognisable from the team that began the match.
On cue the first serious rain in a while arrived to greet the start of the National League. The pitch held up well but it was a hardship introduction to the season for the players.
Kerry were sluggish and unfamiliar from the throw-in. Fielding just seven of their All-Ireland starting line-up they were slow to create the sort of moves that swept all before them last year but as the half wore on they created more and more chances though for a long time lacked the sharpness to put them away. Cork, thrown back on diminishing possession in the face of a strong wind, did create a number of opportunities of their own but their finishing was frequently as bad their opponents'.
They did demonstrate on occasion the ability to cut through the centre of Kerry's defence and open up the path to goal but on the two most notable occasions Martin Cronin was fouled in the 15th minute and around the half-hour captain Seán Levis drove the ball wide when it would have been wiser to go for an equalising point.
In their best moments Cork moved the ball quickly and threatened; at their least effective they dithered and tossed the ball around in decreasing circles and were well outnumbered by the time it occurred to someone to try to pick out a forward.
Nonetheless Cork did enough to stay point for point with the holders until the very end of the first half when Quill tapped over the point that put Kerry 0-5 to 0-4 ahead.
As the match appeared to stretch away from Cork, manager Billy Morgan made a couple of switches. Kevin O'Sullivan came on for James Masters but the more radical move saw Owen Sexton replace Dermot Hurley and allow Derek Kavanagh go to centrefield where he made an immediate impact.
Suddenly Cork began to move with a sense of urgency.
They were also fired up by the refusal of referee Brian White to give Conor McCarthy a penalty and scores started to flow. McCarthy with two and Kavanagh wiped out the deficit in three minutes and remorselessly, they picked off another three by converting chances, created off sweeping moves and great cross-field kick passing.
Kerry were stunned and could summon only one point in response from Cooper. Then in the 63rd minute it was all over. Brendan Jer O'Sullivan, who played a roaming game at full forward - to better effect after the interval - put a long ball into the far corner for Kevin O'Sullivan to run on to. His ball to Nicholas Murphy was flashed into the net by the tall midfielder.
In White's last match before turning his refereeing attention to hurling, he gave Paul Galvin the dubious distinction of becoming the first yellow card recipient under the amended rules to leave the field for the rest of the match.
That was in the 50th minute and his team- mates might as well have followed him.
CORK: K O'Dwyer; N Geary, D Kavanagh (0-1), A Lynch; N O'Leary, S Levis (0-1), M Cronin; D Hurley, N Murphy (1-0); C O'Riordan (0-4, one free), C McCarthy (0-2), K McMahon; J Masters (0-1, free), BJ O'Sullivan (0-1), J Hayes (0-1). Subs: K O'Sullivan (0-1, free) for Masters (45 mins), O Sexton for Hurley (48 mins).
KERRY: D Murphy; M Ó Sé, A O'Mahony, M Lyons; T Ó Sé, E Fitzmaurice, S Moynihan; D Ó Sé, M Quirke; N Kennelly, P Kelly, E Brosnan (0-1); D Quill (0-3), R O'Connor (0-3), C Cooper (0-1). Subs: P Galvin for Kennelly (32 mins), W Kirby for Quirke (half-time), L Hassett for Galvin (50 mins), T O'Sullivan for T Ó Sé (50 mins), B Guiney for Fitzmaurice (62 mins), D Doona for O'Connor (67 mins).
REFEREE: B White (Wexford).
YELLOW CARDS: Cork - none; Kerry - P Galvin (50 mins, replaced by L HassettL.
ATTENDANCE: 5,000 (approx).
