Morgan vindicated as his team prove their credentials

Munster SFC Final replay:Shortly after Cork's moment of victory, when Billy Morgan was raised aloft by the swarming supporters, it appeared for the briefest of moments that the silver hair on his head shone in the afternoon sunlight like a halo.

And surely now if there is any candidate for sainthood in Cork football then it has to be Morgan.This latest victory over Kerry - complete with all the intense rivalry of past occasions - was essentially 1987 revisited. When Morgan was cornered afterwards, freshly showered but still dripping sweat, he himself alluded to 19 ago, when Cork ended one era in Munster football, and started another.

"Well I suppose it's kind of similar to 1987 in a way, in that you had a young team coming, and trying to make the breakthrough," he says. "But in ways this win is more satisfying because of the criticism we've got over the last year or so.

"I felt we made a lot of progress last year, but the manner of the defeat to Kerry last year, and then all the criticism after the Limerick game, makes this particularly rewarding."

The only real surprise about this victory was how complete it was. Cork had hinted a week ago that they had the beatings of Kerry, yet few people gave them the benefit of the doubt.

"We thought we'd do it last Sunday and we just didn't. People wrote us off, but that game just reinforced our belief that we were good enough to beat Kerry. We always believed we're not too far off the top.

"They're all very good players. If you looked at it individually I'd say we're as talented as anyone else. It's just about blending them and getting some belief into them, and then trying to make the breakthrough. But I think a win like this should mean an awful lot to them and bring them on a ton."

The question now is whether or not Cork can build on this, and like 1987, turn this team into All-Ireland contenders.

"Having won today, and with the under-21 success of recent years, there are good young players coming. But we wouldn't want to get carried away yet," said Morgan. "We've still a long way to go. We went to the semi-finals last year, and we'd like to do that again, but we can't look past the quarter-finals at this stage. And knowing Kerry I know they can bounce back."

Of Anthony Lynch's sudden availability Morgan said: " He's a class player, a gentleman, and he didn't deserve to lose out. So when we heard the news on Friday night it was a big boost."

Kerry manager Jack O'Connor cut a forlorn figure in the Kerry dressing room: "In the last five minutes Cork kicked a few easy points, so I wouldn't read too much into the final score," he says.

"But on the day we just couldn't get any sort of pattern going. We made a lot of changes, but at the end of the day we couldn't make the improvement. The game was going against us so we had to bring in some fresh legs. I thought we did well in areas, the likes of Darragh Ó Sé and Seamus Moynihan. And maybe Kieran Donaghy was a bit of a loss, but we can't talk about players that weren't there. And I think it was up front where our problems were."

Of the Lynch controversy O'Connor added: "I don't think that provided any more or less motivation. We lived with Cork last week, but we felt we needed to go in at half-time on parity. But what else can I say? Cork deserved to win."

Kerry's Mike Frank Russell was already looking to the road ahead. "In fairness they were very aggressive, and a very hungry Cork team. They had a good game plan today. We'll just get down to basics at training again.

"Tyrone were in this position last year and we saw how they bounced back, so we have a qualifier to look forward to at this stage."