Four-goal Cork put the lights out in Kingdom

GRAHAM CANTY’S gem of a goal may linger in the memory much longer than the powerful display which gave Larry Tompkins and his Cork players some small consolation for the manner of their All-Ireland semi-final defeat by Kerry.

Yet, nothing was quite as significant in Páirc Uí Rinn on Saturday night as the historic staging of this opening round Allianz National Football League under floodlights in front of a record crowd of 13,421, which included both the GAA president Sean McCague and president-elect Sean Kelly.

With McCague describing it as a wonderful occasion and an exhibition of goal-scoring the two managers readily admitted that the essential ingredient in the game was the hunger for victory displayed by the home players.

Clearly, it was what inspired a notable recovery of form after an opening 20 minutes when Kerry were very much in control and Cork's form was characterised by largely inept forward play. The notable exception was Colin Crowley who was to finish with an impressive 2-3 to his credit.

From his perspective, the service from the outfield players proved 'fantastic'.

"Overall, it was a good team performance," he said. Making the comment that his team had laid down in Croke Park and that would certainly not be his style, Tompkins praised his players for the effort they put in this time.

"It was nice to throw in a few fellows. They possibly gave us a cutting edge that we did not have and that was important," he stated.

And, interestingly, he did not regard the loss of Corkery as a serious blow. "Colin is a wonderful player, but I feel this is a good team. I was delighted for all the lads that they proved that.

"There is nobody indispensable. If we are ever going to be relying on one or two we are going nowhere."

Páidí Ó Sé agreed that Cork were hungrier, better and more determined, commenting: "After the way we beat them in Croke Park it was obvious that they were going to come at us with all guns blazing. We knew they would put it up to us."

He described Cork's first two goals, from Crowley and outstanding centre-back Canty, as crucial and killer blows.

Ó Sé compared the game to Kerry's performance when the counties met at the same venue in the 1999/2000 league and his team was out to avenge their defeat in the previous Munster final. "That day we beat Cork by more than they beat us tonight. This was a replica," he added.

And, like their last clash, there were also dismissals on this occasion.

Five players from each side were yellow-carded, with Darragh Ó Sé and Brendan Jer O'Sullivan being sent off after receiving second cards later along with Fionan Murray. He was censured immediately after his first card, apparently for challenging it.

Murray had been guilty of some wasteful finishing at the start before becoming quite influential in the role of play-maker. After Alan Cronin set up Colin Crowley for the opening goal in the 27th minute and Canty finished superbly after a solo run from midfield, Murray made the opening for Michael Ó Croinin to score a third in the 32nd minute.

It saw Cork finish the half 3-4 to 0-6 in front. Along with Canty, Anthony Lynch played a prominent role in assisting Cork's take-over, along with Brendan Jer O'Sullivan.

Remarkably, Kerry struggled in key positions, none more so than Barry O'Shea at full-back, while Seamus Moynihan lost his early grip against Ó Croinin and Darragh Ó Sé faded.

Up front, the forwards were almost starved of possession. Despite changes made on the resumption including the introduction of Michael Quirke at full-forward there was really no way back.

As Páidí Ó Sé remarked later, the Cork backs were teak tough, with wing-back Noel O'Leary epitomising this approach. Colin Crowley's second goal, 12 minutes into the

second half, effectively killed any chance of a Kerry recovery and the only goal they managed, through substitute Declan O'Sullivan, came five minutes from the end.

*Kildare referee Michael Monaghan may have felt under pressure to rigidly apply the rules, because some of the yellow cards were unnecessary. Yet, if he had been more consistent, one or two other players could have walked. Overall, he did a good job.

Scorers for Cork: C Crowley 2-3; M Ó Croinin 1-1 (0-1 free); G Canty 1-0; F Murray, P Kissane, D Kavanagh and C Murphy 0-1 each.

Kerry: D Quill 0-5 (0-3 frees); D O'Sullivan 1-0;

T Ó Sé 0-2; D Ó Cinneide (free) and S O'Sullivan 0-1 each.

CORK: K O'Dwyer; N O'Donovan, N Geary, A Lynch; E Sexton, G Canty, N O'Leary; N Murphy, B Collins; BJ O'Sullivan, M Ó Croinin, D Kavanagh; A Cronin (capt), F Murray, C Crowley. Subs: P Kissane for Sexton (injured 26th); C Murphy for O Croinin (injured, 56th); A O'Connor for Canty (injured 57th); J O'Donoghue for Kavanagh (67th); D O'Sullivan for O'Leary (71st).

KERRY: D O'Keeffe; T O'Sullivan, B O'Shea (capt), M McCarthy; T Ó Sé, S Moynihan, J Sheehan; D Ó Sé, D Daly; S O'Sullivan, E Brosnan, A MacGearailt; D Quill, D Ó Cinneide, C Cooper. Subs: S Scanlon for MacGearailt (injured 28th; M Quirke for Brosnan and P Galvin for Daly (second half); D O'Sullivan for Cooper (59th) and M Ó Sé for Sheehan (65th).

Referee: M Monaghan (Kildare).

*Attendance: 13,421.