WITHOUT thinking about it, Cork and Kerry found themselves drawn in to an absorbingly tight match which increased in intensity as the afternoon wore on.

the time Cork ran out winners of this quarter-final of the National League, sponsored by Church & General, it had taken extra-time and some high drama to decide the issue.

Afterwards, in a very pleased dressing room, Cork's manager, Billy Morgan, described the drift towards competition: "There was a bit of shadow boxing between the both of us, I suppose. When we came down, we didn't really know which way we would approach the game - would we go flat out or not - and then by half-time we realised we were in a game and we said `let's forget about July and go and try win this one'".

Whereas that potential championship meeting in the Munster final was the ever-present subtext yesterday, this match developed its own importance and became a lively contest, with a modicum of good play and a few cracking scores to enliven the crowd of 9,432 at Pairc Ui Chaoimh.

Kerry can be very disappointed with the outcome, but they have been allowed a close-up glance at their Munster rivals and will not be too intimidated by what they coped with - although the dramatic nature of the defeat may leave a few mental inhibitions.

Cork were worthy winners, but had substitute John O'Driscoll not nicked the goal that won them the match with only two minutes remaining, they would have deserved a month in the stocks. Despite a good range of attacking positions, they managed 17 wides throughout the 90 minutes.

Their win was ultimately the result of one virtue Kerry didn't appear to possess goal scoring forwards (and forwards that scored goals at crucial stages of the match).

Mark O'Sullivan agitated the hype machine to shrieking volume during last year's championship, and again yesterday he underlined his impressive potential by scoring 1-2 and making himself available as Cork's main attacking outlet for much of the match.

Similarly, John O'Driscoll caused apprehension in Kerry's defence for the brief period he was on the pitch and in the end won the match with a splendidly taken goal, squeezing the ball past Declan O'Keeffe when the goalkeeper looked to have narrowed the angle to unfeasible proportions.

Kerry's main producer was Dara O Cinneide, who gave emphasis to his recent good notices by scoring nine points, including five from play. He caused such trouble for Donal O'Callaghan that the more drastic medicine of Niall Cahalane was sent in to try to effect a remedy before the Kerryman was briefly switched to full forward.

The match started sluggishly, with no discernible pattern and only four points, 0-2 each, by the 20th minute. Nonetheless, the afternoon's main influences were already in place. Cork had to sustain the loss of Steven O'Brien as early as the 14th minute when a hamstring injury which had been bothering him in recent weeks. flared up. He was rapidly replaced before further damage was done.

O'Brien's role in recent Cork-Kerry matches has been so important that Kerry's spirits must have lifted. His departure was keenly felt around midfield where Kerry's Dara O Se and Seamus Moynihan were making a fine job of thwarting the more classical instincts of Liam Honohan and Danny Culloty. The resulting broken ball was being wolfed up by the Kerry pair and Cork lacked direction.

Against that, Brian Corcoran had a highly satisfactory match when moved in to pivot the defence and the damage wrought wasn't as much as feared.

Kerry had a more eager look as they hunted ball, and with O Cinneide in his stride, they were always good for a point when moving forward on the Cork goal. Although Kerry's high-scoring corner forward appeared a bit of a solo act, his colleagues in the attack chipped in their contributions at relevant times, with Liam Hassett, Bingo Driscoll and substitute Jack Ferriter all getting two points from play.

Both teams endured sloppy phases throughout but particularly early in the match, and gave away the ball in critical situations with lavish abandon.

By halt"time, with Cork leading 0-5 to 0-4, it was difficult to predict which team was going to make the decisive break. Kerry did get away and established a four-point lead, 0-10 to 0-6, by the three-quarter mark, but just as they were beginning to look the part, Cork struck for the first was started by Colin Corkery. Corkery is a player who comes in for a generous measure of abuse when the merits of forwards (and their weight) is discussed. Consequently, his scoring contribution to the team is often overlooked. Last summer, a free corkscrewed over from under the stand in Killarney set Cork on their way to victory over Kerry. As he is an outstanding free taker, Corkery frequently finds tallies of six or more points from a match taken for granted.

Yesterday there were customary signs of sluggishness, but again a high points total, 0-7, of which six were frees. He also showed in flashes his bustling strength on the ball, buffeting his way past a posse of defenders for one first-half point. He was also integral to both Cork's goals.

In the 52nd minute, he came bursting in from the left and hit a good shot which drew an equally good save from O'Keeffe. As the ball ran loose, Mark O'Sullivan controlled it with his back to the goal, then rolled it to the left before shooting to the corner of the net through the space he had improvised.

The match ebbed and flowed, a point here and a point there, before O Cinneide tied it up in the 60th minute after a point by Mark O'Sullivan seemed to have won the match.

Extra-time looked to be draining Cork of their momentum, and despite a 1-12 to 0-14 interval lead, it was Kerry who began to raise the game with Moynihan still pulling the strings in the middle. Points from substitutes Denis O'Dwyer and Ferriter's brace pushed Kerry two points in front.

The final act was Cork's, however, and Corkery's sublime through-ball gave John O'Driscoll that bit of room which he used to turn the defence and cop Cork into the semi-finals.