Kerry forwards light up the old grey bowl one last time

Golfers like to remind themselves that nothing’s won on Saturdays, but it’s the day plenty of tour pros write themselves out of contention.

How much damage yesterday’s Páirc Uí Chaoimh humiliation does to Cork’s September roadmap is a moot point, but their momentum has been properly holed beneath the waterline. In his rookie year as a senior manager, Brian Cuthbert was handed the most valuable 70 minutes of frontline training he will ever experience in this, his maiden Munster final. Now he must discover whether his players and fellow selectors learnt as much from a 0-24 to 0-12 hammering.

Cork had a game plan — albeit one which seemed to take very little cognisance of Kerry’s attacking fluency — but its pillars appeared to be old-style midfield dominance and man-on-man supremacy. Mike Tyson used to say everyone has a plan till they get punched in the face. Once Kerry found their rhythm and range — around three minutes into the game — it was time to see Cork’s counter-punch. To unwrap Plan B.