THESE two teams might have produced a fair few better games than this over the years but there will have been precious few Kerry teams who came away from a clash with Cork more happy with their afternoon's work.

Billy O'Shea's side were cheered on by a great crowd of supporters who had travelled for the day and the delight amongst both the players and spectators at the end said a great deal about how much this match had come to mean to everybody back in Kerry.

For most supporters the journey to the game must have been made more in hope than expectation but what they witnessed was a courageous display on which Paidi O Se will hope to build as he brings his men into the Croke Park phase of this All Ireland championship.

Until five or six minutes from the end, though, he must have still been worried about whether another Kerry season was going to be ended by their neighbours. Up to then this was a game that could have gone either way and it was only when Steven O'Brien led a Cork charge forward that involved around half a dozen passes with about six minutes left on the clock and the Kerry defence held up that it began to become clear which side's day it was.

Admittedly there were worrying signs for Cork from early on with Colin Corkery's disappointing freetaking appearing to cost him confidence in all other areas of his game. His first few misses came from awkwardly placed frees that might have been better offered to the left footed Joe Kavanagh. The upshot seemed to be that, despite the fact that Corkery continually used his greater power to get the better of Mike Hassett, he never had the sort of impact on the proceedings that the home side must have hoped for.

His performance was in stark contrast with that of Kerry's Maurice Fitzgerald. When his team were struggling and the wet ground conditions were making scores hard to come by for everyone, Fitzgerald had virtually a 100 per cent success rate with his efforts from the placed ball, and his contribution was vitally important in keeping Kerry in the hunt early on.

The return of Seamus Moynihan was also an important boost to Kerry's cause, for he helped them to win the midfield battle with an outstanding performance in the first half. But further upfield they struggled to make the same sort of impact early on.

Mark O'Connor was mopping up practically everything that got through for Dara O Cinneide, who certainly wasn't having one of his better days. He kicked poorly and should really have passed better; he generally struggled to make his presence felt at all until he was moved from the corner into the full forward position.

Overall, though, this game was great exposure for O Cinneide and the younger Kerry players to have come through. Players like Killian Burns and Charlie McCarthy are likely to gain confidence from coming through a struggle like this.

Their side may have been a little fortunate that Ciaran O'Sullivan and Brian Corcoran, who had been stars for Cork against Clare, had off days yesterday. O'Sullivan's low key performance was, at least in part, due to an outstanding display from Billy O'Shea, who repeatedly curtailed his forward runs while managing to grab a couple of great points himself.

Another problem for Cork was Kevin O'Dwyer's kick outs which were very short and had the effect of putting his own defence, particularly O'Sullivan, under unwelcome pressure.

One possible explanation for this is that there was a suspicion that Niall Cahalane wasn't fit enough to win possession for them in midfield, but one way or the other it was a failing that proved costly for Cork.

On the positive side Liam Honohan did battle bravely and his forward runs were penetrative, but he really didn't get the required back up. Maurice Fitzgerald, on the other hand, was highly effective for Kerry, picking up good possession and, especially after he moved into midfield, putting the ball through for his forwards with great vision.

From the time, heading into the last quarter of the game, that Liam Hassett moved to centre forward he made a vital contribution to the game, while around the same time Joe Kavanagh had a great opportunity for a goal when he was put clean through with only the goalkeeper to beat.

With the threat of Mark O'Sullivan already neutralised thanks to a fine performance by Stephen Stack, it was the sort of opportunity that Cork needed to make the most of and the point which Kavanagh picked up looks, in retrospect, to have been a costly miss.

With the depth of talent that they possess in the county, though, Cork will be quickly back for more after this setback while Kerry will improve from this performance. The amount of possession that they kicked away in this game wouldn't do at the Croke Park stage, but they'll know that.

This performance had a freshness, a renewed hunger about it that augurs well for the weeks ahead. Cork and the Munster final had become a major psychological barrier for the Kerry team and having gotten past it and earned a clash with Mayo in the semi finals, they have an opportunity to fulfil their potential as serious All Ireland title contenders.