Kerry ended Cork's reign as ESB Munster minor football champions in a thrilling semi-final at Pairc Ui Rinn on Wednesday night. Kerry...0-13 Cork...0-11 Inspired by the two Barry Johns, Walsh and Keane, who kicked 0-9 between them, the Kingdom reversed last year's final result to set up a meeting with Tipperary in the decider and assure their place in the All-Ireland series. John Kennedy's side were far more economical with some of Cork's shooting being appalling. In one three-minute period during the second half, they kicked five wides in-a-row and when they had Kerry on the ropes in the closing stages they couldn't deliver the knock-out blow. All of Kerry's points came from play and after falling behind to a Paul Honohan point after just 20 seconds, they hit back with four unanswered points in the next five minutes to take control. Cork recovered to the tie up the scoring on 0-4 apiece after 17 minutes and they regained the lead three minutes later from a Cian Fleming free. But two more Kerry points gave them a 0-7 to 0-6 interval lead. It was tit for tat in the early stages of the second half before Cork midfielder Aidan Walsh levelled again after 35 minutes. However, with Barry John Walsh proving highly effective at full forward, Kingdom had opened up a 0-13 to 0-10 advantage by the end of the third quarter. However, they weren't to score again as Cork upped the ante. But the Rebels could only manage one further point from a Barry O'Driscoll free in the 52nd minute as the Kingdom held on to reach the final. Kerry - B. Kelly; P Reidy, B Shanahan, F Fitzgerald; M Hickey, P Crowley 0-1, J Lyne; W Guthrie, D Casey; J O'Donoghue 0-1, C O'Shea, BJ Keane 0-4; P Geaney 0-1, BJ Walsh 0-5, C Tobin 0-1. Subs - S Carroll for O'Shea; N O'Shea for Tobin; J O'Sullivan for Geaney. Cork - D Farry; D Twomey, CV Brosnan, J O'Connor; B Kelleher, F O'Shea, P Daly; A Walsh 0-2, M Collins 0-1; B O'Driscoll 0-3, C Sheehan 0-2, B Horgan; E Buckley, P Honohan 0-1, C Fleming 0-2. Subs - R Dineen for Kelleher; J Dineen for Horgan; S Bestion for Buckley. Tweet

Most Read Stories