Cork 1-15

Kerry 1-23

THE 31-year wait for a championship victory in Killarney will grow even longer for the Cork footballers.

At half time, it looked like the Rebels could end their Killarney hoodoo, as they led by three points, 0-13 to 0-10, against a Kerry team short of a host of regulars.

But the second half saw the home side take over and outscore Cork by 1-13 to 1-2.

Clinical Kerry converted 12 out of 17 shots (71 percent) compared to the Leesiders’ three from 11 (27 percent) in the second period in a showing that left Cork boss John Cleary frustrated.

‘We’re disappointed by the way we played. I think we’re capable of better than that. Hats off to Kerry, they deserved their win on the day. They played the more efficient football. We had too many turnovers. Too many poor shot selections,’ he explained.

‘At this level, it comes back to haunt you. In fairness, we fought to the bitter end but there were times when we took the wrong option. Next thing, it goes down the field and there is a score for Kerry. We’re capable of playing better than that and that's the disappointing thing for us.’

Kerry led 1-17 to 0-14 in the 58th minute but with a Brian O’Driscoll wondergoal and sub David Buckley’s point, the gap was down to two after 64 minutes.

Subs Dylan Geaney, Tony Brosnan and Killian Spillane split the posts to burst Cork’s bubble but things could have turned out differently during the Rebels’ late surge.

‘Conor Corbett had a shot for a two-pointer which would have levelled it with five and a half minutes to go. Whether we deserved it or not, we would have been level and who knows what might have happened coming down the straight,’ Cleary said. 

‘Disappointing in that we had enough of the ball and we didn’t make use of it. We turned it over or had poor shot selection. That’s what these games are about, you learn an awful lot. If you have the ball and you get your opportunities, you’ve got to take them. If you have cheap turnovers against the top teams, you’ll get punished.’

That’s why Kerry are All-Ireland champions: they make their opponents pay with every mistake and scored 1-12 off turnovers. That’s a stat that summed up the game.

Cork did have the breeze in the opening half and with two-pointers through O’Driscoll, Mark Cronin and Sean McDonnell, they went 0-8 to 0-3 ahead after 11 minutes.

Despite that advantage, Kerry went in for three goal chances before the break as David Clifford went close on two occasions while Armin Heinrich opted for the point rather than squaring to the onrushing Micheál Burns. Cleary’s troops were 0-13 to 0-10 in front at the break but they regretted not taking more of a lead.

‘There was a strong wind there. Kerry didn’t get any two-pointers in the first half either. We needed a six- or seven-point cushion at half-time to have coming down the home straight because we knew Kerry were going to come at us. That came back to bite us in the end,’ Cleary said. 

‘Kerry soaked up pressure. We dropped a few balls into the goalie’s hands and coughed up a few turnovers. They then got their goal and five or six fabulous points.’

Kerry took the lead for just the second time after a brilliant Clifford goal, 1-11 to 0-13 on 39 minutes, and controlled their advantage from there to the end.

OUR STAR: A mention for Brian O’Driscoll who scored 1-2 for Cork, including a fabulous goal, but sub Tony Brosnan made the key difference for Kerry with 0-5.

Scorers

Cork: Mark Cronin 0-5 (1f, 1 2pt); Brian O’Driscoll 1-2 (2pt); Steven Sherlock (1f, 45), Chris Óg Jones, Seán McDonnell (2pt) 0-2 each; Colm O’Callaghan, David Buckley 0-1 each.

Kerry: David Clifford 1-6 (1f, 1 2pt); Tony Brosnan 0-5 (1 2pt); Keith Evans, Armin Heinrich, Tomás Kennedy (2f) 0-2 each; Micheál Burns, Paudie Clifford, Gavin White, Mike Breen, Dylan Geaney, Killian Spillane 0-1 each.

Cork: Patrick Doyle; Maurice Shanley, Daniel O’Mahony, Seán Meehan; Brian O’Driscoll, Tommy Walsh, Luke Fahy; Colm O’Callaghan, Ian Maguire (captain); Paul Walsh, Seán McDonnell, Ruairí Deane; Mark Cronin, Chris Óg Jones, Steven Sherlock.

Subs: Seán Brady for S Meehan, Conor Corbett for R Deane (both 48); David Buckley for P Walsh (59); Seán Walsh for S McDonnell (63); Rory Maguire for S Brady (65).

Kerry: Shane Murphy; Evan Looney, Jason Foley, Dylan Casey; Tadhg Morley, Mike Breen, Armin Heinrich; Mark O’Shea, Seán O’Brien; Micheál Burns, Paudie Clifford, Diarmuid O’Connor; David Clifford (captain), Tomás Kennedy, Keith Evans.

Subs: Gavin White for D Casey (temp, 26-ht); Gavin White for A Heinrich, Tony Brosnan for P Clifford (both ht); Killian Spillane for T Kennedy (54); Dylan Geaney for S O’Brien (temp, 54-ft); Cillian Trant for M Burns (62); Eddie Healy for T Morley (65).

Referee: Paul Faloon (Down).