The Defining Moments

CORK'S EARLY GOAL: The common assumption was Cork would have to survive major pressure in the opening quarter. Instead the early stages were the Munster champions' best period. Colm O'Neill's well-taken goal (right) in the 11th minute opened up a five-point margin, 1-3 to 0-1, but instead of driving on, Cork appeared to get vertigo.

Kerry however didn’t panic and in the words of Declan O’Sullivan “stuck to the plan,” wrested back the initiative and out-scored their opponents 0-10 to 0-3 over the remainder of the first half.

REPLACEMENTS:Cork were making running repairs off the bench and trying to remedy problems. Having lost corner back Ray Carey before the throw-in, Conor Counihan replaced him with Kieran O'Connor rather than Eoin Cadogan but Declan O'Sullivan enjoyed abundant possession and Cadogan had to be introduced. As soon as Graham Canty began to exert an influence in the third quarter, Jack O'Connor replaced Tadhg Kennelly with Donnacha Walsh (right) and set the Cork captain a different task. All Kerry's replacements energised the team's effort.

KICK-OUTS:Cork's ability to win primary possession had been at the heart of the season's performances. The midfield diamond of centrefield, Pearse O'Neill and Graham Canty had provided a target-rich environment for Alan Quirke's kick-outs. For the first half yesterday Cork were obliterated on their re-starts, losing on a ratio of about 4:1. Although they actually did better on Kerry's kick-outs, Cork were also beaten decisively on the breaking ball. Performance in the sector improved in the second half but potentially decisive momentum had been lost.

COMPOSURE:The most obvious statistic in relation to this is in the conversion rate of chances. In the second half Cork had five times as many wides as Kerry. Immediately after half-time, having squandered almost constant field position in the opening minutes by poor shooting and dropped passes, Cork had to watch Kerry calmly pick off a pointed free on their first visit to the attacking zone. Lack of composure was also evident in the stilted movement and indecisiveness with attacking possession. Alan O'Connor (right) encapsulates their frustration.