Resolute Kerry retained their Munster crown with a battling 1-11 to 1-6 replay victory over Cork in front of a full house at rain-sodden Killarney.

This was a poor and at times unsporting match played out in shocking October-like conditions with incessant rain beating a constant tattoo across the stern southern landscape, but - with David Moran and Anthony Maher impressing at centrefield - the worthy winners (who finished strongly by hitting 1-2 without reply) had the steel, strength and cuteness to collect the 77th senior provincial title.

The Rebel County - who mustered only two points in the second half and will now face Kildare for a place in the All-Ireland series (against Dublin!) - could have and should have won the drawn match a fortnight ago, but tonight they chased the game pretty much from start to finish.

With 32,233 looking on - most of them drenched to the bone - five Bryan Sheehan points gave the defending Munster and All-Ireland champions a narrow 0-8 to 1-4 half-time lead, with Paul Kerrigan's 32nd-minute goal raising the temperatures a notch at dark and dreary Fitzgerald Stadium.

Paul Geaney pounced for the Kerry goal in the 50th minute, latching onto a rebound to fire the ball into the roof of the net. That score gave the winners a three-point lead which was never threatened thereafter. Eamonn Fitzmaurice was able to spring old warhorses Colm Cooper and Paul Galvin from the bench in the second half and the former was instrumental in the move that led to Geaney's all-important three-pointer.

There were late changes to the Cork starting XV with Eoin Cadogan and Fintan Goold both deemed unfit to start and their places going to Jamie O'Sullivan and Paddy Kelly respectively. But none of that stopped the visitors from striking first when Colm O'Neill curled over a free from the deck after a foul on Donncha O'Connor

Cromane's Donnchadh Walsh cut inside to equalise off the left peg and the first handbags showdown broke out inside the Cork '45' after Alan O'Connor (yellow card) came in late on James O'Donoghue, who had just won a free from Mark Collins, which Sheehan nonchalantly thumped between the sticks when the action resumed.

The losers equalised from a Donncha O'Connor free in the eighth minute but  a tidy, speculative brace from Geaney propelled the hosts into a double scores advantage after twelve minutes, 0-4 to 0-2. Sheehan stroked over the softest of Kerry frees and O'Neill replied by chipping a free between the posts into the wind on 15 minutes.

Centre back Brian O'Driscoll made no mistake after the Kingdom defence invited him to shoot for the second time and eight minutes without a score at either end were punctuated by another missile-like free from the uncannily-accurate right boot of Sheehan. A quick Cork free from a scorable position came to nought and the Leesiders' disappointment was compounded when Sheehan scooped over another free.

Having gone 16 minutes without a score, the Rebels drew level when Kerrigan took a pass from O'Neill and stuck a shot into the top right corner of the net three minutes from the break: 1-4 to 0-7. And Brian Cuthbert's men were almost immediately in for a second major, only for Brendan Kealy to execute a stunning save and deflect Stephen Cronin's precise-but-weak effort onto the upright.

Michael Shields went down holding his face after being hit in the shoulder by Geaney but the match officials didn't buy it and a last-gasp Sheehan free - his fifth score of the first half - gave the holders the slenderest of interval cushions.

Geaney and O'Donoghue squandered Kerry chances before O'Neill thumped a superb right-footed point in the fourth minute of the second half to level the scores for the fourth time. Brian Hurley and Donncha O'Connor were off target with wild efforts as the Rebels strived to get their noses back in front.

But wing back Jonathan Lyne benefited from hard O'Donoghue work to restore Kerry's lead as the rain continued to hammer down from the heavens; the Kingdom threw in Cooper for the last 25 minutes, with ineffective captain Kieran Donaghy making way.

Kevin O'Driscoll looped over a beautiful levelling point off the outside of the right foot (that would be Cork's last score of the match and it arrived in the 46th minute!) and then swapped wides with Geaney, but the latter atoned in style in the 50th minute: a silly Cork foul gifted Kerry a free, which Cooper took quickly to Walsh, whose shot was saved by Ken O'Halloran … the ball ricocheted to the No.13, who in turn smashed it to the roof of the net from a couple of yards: 1-9 to 1-6.

More Cork indiscipline gifted Geaney (free) the insurance point with eleven minutes to go and O'Donoghue finally got the point his endeavour deserved before the winners introduced former Footballer of the Year Galvin for his first intercounty appearance since the 2013 All-Ireland semi-final.

The winners were reduced to 14 men when substitute Stephen O'Brien picked up a second yellow card a minute from the end of normal time but they held on for a comfortable win in the end, while the Rebels will have to lick their wounds quickly as they are back out against the Lilywhites next Saturday.

Kerry - B Kealy; M O Se, A O'Mahony, S Enright; J Lyne (0-1), K Young, P Murphy; A Maher, D Moran; J Buckley, B Sheehan (0-5f), D Walsh (0-1); P Geaney (1-3, 0-1f), K Donaghy, J O'Donoghue (0-1). Subs: C Cooper for K Donaghy, S O'Brien for B Sheehan, B J Keane for P Geaney, P Galvin for D Walsh, P Crowley for K Young.

Cork - K O'Halloran; M Shields, J O'Sullivan, J Loughrey; Barry O'Driscoll, Brian O'Driscoll (0-1), S Cronin; A O'Connor, P Kelly; P Kerrigan (1-0), D O'Connor (0-1f), K O'Driscoll (0-1); C O'Neill (0-3, 2f), M Collins, B Hurley. Subs: F Goold for D O'Connor, C Dorman for K O'Driscoll, D Goulding for P Kelly, T Clancy for Barry O'Driscoll, J Hayes for B Hurley.

Referee - M Deegan.

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