An eventful afternoon in Newbridge before roughly 8,500 spectators, whose staggered arrival delayed the throw-in by 10 minutes, concluded with disproportionate consequences for a narrowly-beaten Kildare side who now face an anxious run-in before knowing whether they can qualify for the Church & General National Football League quarter-finals and resume the county's place in Division One.
Cork's manager Larry Tompkins was understandably pleased with the outcome which, combined with Down's defeat in Ennis, left his side in pole position in Section D.
"It's a valuable result which puts us in a strong position," he said. "The defence was generally very good and very disciplined. They didn't give away any stupid fouls and played well as a unit."
Ronan McCarthy was particularly impressive at full back, marking well and patrolling his defence with intelligence and urgency. But centre back Brian Corcoran also caught the eye with some perceptive, long-range passes.
It was, however, a disappointing ending to a tragic weekend for the home county. On Saturday, Clane player Barry Gallagher had drowned on the club's holiday in Lanzarote, and his clubmates Martin Lynch, Brian Murphy and Paul McCormack withdrew from yesterday's fixture, leaving Kildare short half their selected attack.
Among those drafted in to take their places was Karl O'Dwyer, son of county manager Mick, who has been teaching in Rathangan since September and is now a member of the local club (although the match programme seemed oblivious to his transfer and left an enigmatic blank in the space for club affiliation).
O'Dwyer, who had a brief inter-county career with his native Kerry in the early 1990s, endured as frustrating an afternoon as the Kildare team in general; he contributed handsomely to the now familiar weakness for wides (16 yesterday) which yet again undid the team.
"I'd a great chance near the end," he said, "but that's the way it goes. I didn't find it too bad, I've been training for the last month or six weeks. Sharpness was the harder part and there were chances I didn't take. Up to 14 yards we played reasonably well, but the finishing let us down."
Padraig Graven and Noel Donlon were also introduced, but, of the substitutes available, Damien Behan was the one who made the greatest impact when brought on in the last eight minutes to score 0-1 and draw a couple of scoreable frees which yielded a further point.
Cork had to make one adjustment, bringing in Castlehaven's Brian Collins for his Glen Rovers namesake Fachtna, with Donagh Wiseman and Sean Og O hAilpin moving up to wing back and midfield respectively.
It's hard to make too much of league matches in early February, but both teams place a premium on fitness and looked in good shape. Unfortunately for them, other less useful characteristics were also in evidence.
Plenty of opportunities presented themselves to either team, but the conversion rate was disappointing. Cork continue to move the ball fluently and forcefully in the middle third of the pitch - all those big, athletic physiques careering through from midfield and the half-lines - but too often the move fizzles out before creating a clear opening.
In fairness to the attack, a couple of good goal chances were engineered in the first half, but Joe Kavanagh and Ciaran O'Sullivan saw their efforts spectacularly saved. Kildare defended comfortably against the short game and led by 05 to 0-3 at half-time.
Kildare hit a productive seam at the end of the first half with fine points from John Whelan and Padraig Brennan and an eye-catching display from Dermot Earley at midfield where he outshone his illustrious partner, Niall Buckley.
For the second half, Cork varied their game and began to deploy longer deliveries into the forwards. Aidan Dorgan, having switched to the left wing in a reshuffle brought about by Ciaran O'Sullivan's injury - damaged shoulder ligaments ("About the only injury I've never had before," he said) which the player fears could rule him out for the next six weeks - made a marked impression and scored two points.
Kavanagh assisted in keeping the scoreboard moving and, with five minutes left, he stretched the margin to 0-9 to 0-7.
Cork: M Maguire; B Collins, R McCarthy, O Sexton; D Wiseman, B Corcoran, M Cronin; S Og O hAilpin (01), N Murphy; A Dorgan (0-2), S O'Brien (0-1), C O'Sullivan (0-1, from 45); J Kavanagh (0-3, one from free), P Hegarty (0-1), A O'Regan. Subs: C Crowley for O'Sullivan (halftime), M O'Donovan for Murphy (49 mins), B Walsh for Dorgan (61 mins).
Kildare: C Byrne; S Dowling, R Quinn, K Doyle; A Rainbow, G Ryan, B Lacy; N Buckley (0- 2, two frees), D Earley; P Graven, D Kerrigan, J Whelan (0-2); P Brennan (0-1), N Donlon (0-1), K O'Dwyer (0-1). Subs: M Ryan for Ryan (46 mins), D Behan (0-1) for Donlon (53 mins).
Referee: B White (Wexford).
