by James McMahon
The meeting of these Munster neighbours is one of the great rivalries in gaelic football and another chapter will unfold by the banks of the Lee on Sunday.
Indeed, ever since the introduction of the qualifiers in 2001, the collision of red v green and gold is an even more regular occurrence.
Twice the counties have met in All-Ireland finals, with four clashes at the semi-final stage, including a replay in 2008.The common thread punctuating these encounters, with Sam Maguire at close quarters, is that Kerry have prevailed.
In recent times, the distribution of provincial honours is more evenly distributed as the teams have shared the last four titles. Kerry claimed the 2011 Munster crown, thanks in no small way to a strong first half showing, leaving Cork with much to do on the resumption, though they just narrowly failed to reduce the deficit.
In total, the Kingdom have chalked up 65 victories since 1889, with their rivals winning 29. Replays and close finishes have often been the order down through the years, and regarding the former the Munster final of 1976 is one that stands out.
Kerry 3-20 Cork 2-19 (AET) - Munster SFC final replay, Páirc Uí Chaoimh, 25 July 1976
After the sides draw 0-10 apiece a fortnight earlier, it was back to the newly opened venue by the Lee for an absorbing battle that had many twists and turns.
After 51 minutes in normal time, Cork had built up a seven-point lead and looked to be on course to regain their Munster crown. Thanks to a goal from Jimmy Barry Murphy and points from Sean Murphy and Denis Long, the Rebels were now in full flow.
However, Kerry’s resilience subsequently shone through and the introduction of Sean Walshe midway through the second period proved to be a masterstroke.
He notched up 1-3, and with the Kerry midfield duo of Paudie Lynch and Pat McCarthy now exerting a more telling influence, allied with Pat Spillane’s intelligent runs, it was a question whether the clock would tell against them.
With five minutes left, the Kingdom were four points down. A close-in free from Mikey Sheehy found Sean Walshe, whose goal-bound shot was held by Brian Murphy.
Such was the ferocity of the shot that Murphy was propelled backwards and carried the ball over the line. Cork’s lead was now down to the bare minimum as Kerry continued to pile forward.
Spillane cut in menacingly with a goal on his mind; his shot was stopped. However, he grabbed the rebound and punched the ball over the bar.
There was still time left for a Cork goal to be disallowed, while Sheehy thought he had it won it for Kerry, but referee John Maloney had blown for full time at the end of 70 minutes just as his shot went between the posts.
Final score after 70 minutes: Kerry 3-13 Cork 2-16
Into extra time and the momentum was with Kerry as they outscored their opponents by 0-07 to 0-03. Cork were no doubt left frustrated after the 100 minutes of action, but their opponents had that bit more class in the forward line to find the scores when needed to register a victory that looked unlikely for long periods.
Scorers:
Kerry – M Sheehy 0-11, S Walsh 1-3, P Spillane 1-3, M O’Sullivan 1-2, J Egan 0-1
Cork – J Barry-Murphy 1-2, S Murphy 0-5, C O’Rourke 0-4, D Barron 0-3, S Coughlan 1-0, D Long, D McCarthy, D Allen, B Field 0-1 each.
KERRY: P O’Mahony; T Kennelly, J O’Keeffe, J Deenihan; P O’Shead, G O’Keeffe, G Power, P Lynch; P McCarthy, D Moran, M O’Sullivan,; P Spillane, B Lynch, M Sheehy, J Egan
Subs – S Walshe for O’Sullivan
CORK: B Morgan; S O’Sullivan, B Murphy, D O’Driscoll, J Coleman, T Creedon, K Kehilly, D Long, D McCarthy, C O’Rourke, S Coughlan, S Murphy; J Barry-Murphy, D Barron, D Allen
Subs – K Collins for O’Sullivan, B Field for O’Rourke, S O’Sullivan for Coleman, C O’Rourke for Coughlan, C Murphy for Field, K Murphy for Creedon
