Cork gained a measure of revenge for last Sunday's senior defeat when they edged out Kerry to claim their 28th Munster junior football title at Pairc Ui Chaoimh last night.

Cork 0-10
Kerry 1-5

In what was a disappointing spectacle, the Rebels always looked the more likely winners, although the concession of a late goal made for a nervous finish. Cork raced into a 0-4 to 0-0 lead inside the first quarter thanks to scores from Andrew O'Brien, Kevin Hallissey (two) and Daniel O'Donovan before Gavin O'Grady finally opened Kerry's account from a free.

Alan Fitzgerald closed the gap further before scores from Brian Coughlan and Hallissey ensured the home side of a 0-6 to 0-2 lead at the break.

James Walsh and Brian Costello were both on target for the Kingdom after the restart, but they couldn't get any closer than two points as Cork pulled away again with scores from Mark Cronin, Coughlan, Hallissey and O'Donovan.

Andrew Garnett pulled back a goal for Kerry in injury-time, but it was a case of too little, too late as Cork held on.

Scorers - Cork: K Hallissey 0-4 (1f), B Coughlan (1f), D O'Donovan 0-2 each, A O'Brien, M Cronin (f) 0-1 each. Kerry: A Garnett 1-0, J Walsh 0-2, B Costello, G O'Grady (f), A Fitzgerald (f) 0-1 each.

CORK - T O'Connor; E Wiseman, E O'Mahony, K Harrington; S Kiely, R O'Sullivan, AJ O'Connor; D O'Donovan, A O'Sullivan; M Dilworth, C Keane, B Coughlan; K Hallissey, A O'Brien, T Clancy. Subs: M Cronin for Dilworth (42), L Shorten for Clancy (51).

KERRY - S Óg Ó Ciardubháin; K O'Dwyer, S Brosnan, C O'Mahony; E Hickson, B McGuire, P Kilkenny; B Costello, A Garnett; G Sayers, M Murphy, J Walsh; G O'Grady, B Poff, A Fitzgerald. Subs: D O'Callaghan for Sayers (39), F Courtney for O'Grady (50), M Coakley for Murphy (50).

Ref - K O'Brien (Tipperary). Tweet

Most Read Stories