Kerry shade the shadow boxing

Kerry 2-11 Cork 1-11

The McGrath Cup hardly sets the pulse racing in either camp and this semi-final clash was a tame affair when placed against the fire and brimstone ties of recent summers.

The bragging rights, such as they were, belonged to Kerry, thanks to a resurgent second-half performance, yet they were not ecstatic in victory, just as Cork were hardly crushed by the defeat. The teams will square off in a fortnight in a National League opener and there are favourable prospects that their paths will cross during the summer. Those are the games on which Jack O’Connor and Conor Counihan will be judged. For O’Connor the prospect of a final date with Clare next Saturday was the primary source of his satisfaction as he gets another chance to survey nascent talents.