Cork 0-17 Kerry 1-13:THINGS HAPPEN for All-Ireland-winning teams. Cork looked to have control of this marquee league opener, were then caught flat by a spirited Kerry rally which revolved around the only goal in the match, and finally delivered a sucker punch of their own with two long-range frees from Donnacha O'Connor and Daniel Goulding which were dispatched flawlessly through the soft rain.
Just like that, Cork claimed their first league win in Kingdom country since back in 1982. The rambunctious home crowd in Tralee were silent and reminded that the football landscape has changed down south.
This was the first time a Cork football team had taken to the field in Austin Stack Park as All-Ireland champions.
Lord knows how many Cork teams have formed the obligatory guard of honour for Kerry teams on the opening days of bygone National Leagues. Yesterday, it worked the other way around.
The wonderful sculpture on the Cashlehane roundabout – five bronze athletes perpetually tussling for a ball – is a reminder of the hold Gaelic football has on this town. But Cork came here with the priceless assurance that winning an All-Ireland championship gives teams and they made it count.
There was little novel about Cork here. They finished last season with their peerless dead-ball strikers firing frees in the rain on All-Ireland final day and that accuracy was central to their success again yesterday.
In the opening exchanges, their back division was stretched by the brightness and imagination of the Kerry attack but once the game settled down, Cork’s collective pace and athleticism began to tell and they opened up 0-15 to 0-12 lead after an hour of play.
Jamie O’Sullivan grew into the crucial detail of living with Kieran Donaghy and although the local man hit two excellent points and looked to have the wherewithal to seriously trouble the Cork back line, the threat never fully materialised – in no small part because the ball was not sent in frequently enough.
Conor Counihan remarked afterwards his team were not scoring enough from play but some of the points they got were glorious. Fintan Goold landed two terrific points in the first half and Patrick Kelly gave Cork their first lead of the second half with another fine strike on 51 minutes.
Cork’s pressure was beginning to tell at this stage: after a smartly taken point by Donncha O’Connor in the 39th minute, Kerry would not score again until substitute Paul Geaney fired a goal just after coming into the match.
That score revived Kerry and came mainly through the persistence of Darran O’Sullivan, who bounced off pretty much every Cork man in Tralee yesterday and provided the thrust of the Kerry attack from centre forward.
He won a nothing ball and stormed through the middle of the Cork defence before playing a perfectly-timed ball for Geaney to finish.
That goal sharpened the focus of both teams after a period defined by the dismissal of Barry John Keane following an altercation with Cork’s Noel O’Leary, the pair had been sparking earlier, with Keane brilliantly dispossessing the tenacious defender just a few minutes before hand.
Bizarrely, O’Leary was then admonished with a red card just one minute later, seemingly for a separate incident. The departure of the Cork man caused the loudest roar of the day from the home contingent and it was in that state of heightened emotion that the Kerry men fashioned their sudden comeback.
A free from Kieran O’Leary after the Kerry goal restored their lead and as the game slipped into injury time, it looked like they would maintain the tradition of beating their neighbours in home league games.
A steamrolling moment of defence from Tomás Ó Sé – assured at centre back – when he drove through a brave Fintan Goold and cleared the ball seemed to signal a resilient close and some early bragging rights for the Kingdom.
But the frees that Kerry conceded were needless and untidy and proved harsh lessons as the Cork’s marksmen made light work of dispatching them.
It was a deflating close for the Kerrymen, but there were some bright points to the day. Jonathan Lyne had an assured game at left-half back and David Moran had a strong afternoon at midfield – even though Cork mopped up most of the loose possession there.
David Geaney looked a natural score taker in the early exchanges and Donnchadh Walsh mixed his customary endeavour with two good points.
Jack O’Connor will take his time piecing his 2011 Kerry jigsaw and we can expect to see several Kerry teams containing new names before the real stuff begins in the summer.
By then, this game will be a distant memory.
CORK:K O;Halloran; R Carey, J O'Sullivan, E Cadogan; C O'Driscoll (0-1), J Miskella, N O'Leary; P O'Neill, A Walsh; J Hayes, P Kelly (0-1), F Goold (0-2); D Goulding (0-7, five frees, one 50), C O'Neill, D O'Connor (0-6, four frees). Subs: P O'Flynn for Miskella (24 mins inj), C Sheehan for J Hayes (44 mins), N Murphy for A Walsh (54 mins), D Goold for C O'Neill (66 mins), D O'Sullivan for C O'Driscoll (67 mins).
KERRY:B Kealy; P Reidy, M Ó Sé, P O'Connor; A O'Mahony, T Ó Sé, J Lyne; A Maher; D Moran (0-1), BJ Keane (0-1), D O'Sullivan (0-1), D Walsh (0-2); BJ Walsh (0-1), K Donaghy (0-2), D Geaney (0-4, one free). Subs: K O'Leary (0-1 free) for BJ Walsh (28 mins), S Enright for P O'Connor (33 mins), P Crowley for A O'Mahony (45 mins), P Geaney (1-0) for D Geaney (60).
Referee:M Duffy (Sligo).
