Fifty minutes of maybe-things-aren't-that-bad from Cork. So what comes next?

Kerry have eyes on a bigger prize. For Cork, a hum-drum qualifier against moderate opposition is the sort of next step that frequently brings out the dishevelled worst in them

SLIPPING: Cork's Kevin Flahive pressures David Clifford of Kerry. 

IT took the greatest part of fifty minutes on Saturday evening for the sediment to settle at Páirc Ui Rinn and for Jack O’Connor’s Kerry to wrestle the resistance out of Cork and their causes. It wasn’t a provincial semi-final where the full might of Kerry’s offensive hardware was required, but there was enough spunk from their hosts to make it a productive evening for each of the stakeholders.

It was in the 49th minute when Cathail O’Mahony made the Munster SFC semi-final a one-point game and though the visitors and favourites established some order with judicious changes in the final quarter, there was as much for Cork and their management to take into the qualifiers as there was for Kerry to take back through Baile Bhuirne and Ballydesmond.