Munster SFC Final/ Kerry 1-15 Cork 1-13: There wasn't much in it but into a tight margin of victory Kerry will have crammed reasonable satisfaction.

In a well-contested Bank of Ireland Munster football final the All-Ireland champions reclaimed the provincial silverware from their neighbours and had the satisfaction of bridging a 21-year gap back to their last win in a Munster final at their home venue in Killarney.

Manager Pat O'Shea can feel satisfied his team got a crucial bit extra out of themselves and so avoided the winding back roads of the qualifier series, to which Cork will take in a fortnight.

Even the two points exaggerated the difference between the teams in that James Masters had a late free he was forced to drop into the square instead of shooting for an attainable equaliser, which would have been the task had the outgoing champions not turned over possession moments earlier, allowing Seán O'Sullivan to stretch Kerry's advantage to two after Kieran Donaghy's great curling kick from the left wing soared over the bar to give the home side the lead just as injury-time began.

Just before that Cork had contrived a clever move that put Derek Kavanagh in on goal, but of all the options - fall over under the tug of Tomás Ó Sé's jersey- pull and let the more likely figure of James Masters go for the goal or take a point and give his team the lead with only three minutes left - elected to go for goal himself and the shot flew boisterously but harmlessly wide.

There will be additional disappointment for the Cork manager, Billy Morgan, in that the main damage to his team's prospects originated again in the attack's inability to make better use of chances, particularly in the first half when with the advantage of a strong wind Cork could manage only a two-point lead, 0-9 to 0-7.

The problem was caused by a few factors: poor shooting in the first quarter when they had created some good platforms, the concentration and pressure exerted by Kerry all around the field and, most puzzlingly, a failure to exploit what looked like a major asset, their full forward Michael Cussen - in facile terms the county's answer to Kieran Donaghy.

At two inches taller than his Kerry counterpart and reigning Footballer of the Year, Cussen was an inviting target, but his team-mates, having steadied the line at centrefield after an imperious early spell from Darragh Ó Sé, hit the full forward with only two serviceable balls all day - both arriving in the space of a minute and each dispatched for a well taken point.

Kerry, in contrast, worked the ball forward with greater confidence and got scores more comfortably even if their own marksmanship wasn't hectic at times.

They had demonstrably more cut in their half forwards, where Declan O'Sullivan had a good afternoon, carrying the ball into the danger zone, finishing with three points from play and giving Anthony Lynch an uncomfortable time, as rumours of a hamstring injury persisted.

There were other frustrations for the visitors. Several times they won possession from restarts only to spill the ball or turn it over in contact, one such lapse ending with slick ball work between Eoin Brosnan, Colm Cooper and Declan O'Sullivan and a point for O'Sullivan.

Cussen's points, in the 24th and 25th minutes, opened a three-point lead, 0-7 to 0-4, and suggested Cork might cash in the wind advantage with a late run of scores before the break but though they still had that lead in injury-time at the end of the half, Brosnan clipped a point to leave the score ominously close, 0-9 to 0-7, with the wind to follow.

Kerry effectively won the match twice. In the third quarter an unanswered scoring charge - once Donnacha O'Connor was denied a point after some to-ing and fro-ing between referee and umpires - saw them put up 1-5 before their opponents registered the first score of the half.

The goal was a reminder that Donaghy, despite some indifferent form this year, can still cause havoc, for all that Graham Canty in general coped well. In the 44th minute he rose highest to break the ball for Cooper, who slipped in and left his own calling card for the season with a slickly -taken goal.

There could have been another when the counterattacking Tomás Ó Sé pulled the ball across the goal and the incoming Declan O'Sullivan drew a fine save from Paddy O'Shea with a snap shot that deflected over the bar.

By the time Pearse O'Neill finished a move that constituted the first sign of Cork's second-half resistance the match looked over.

Complicating the comeback for Cork was the decision to drop Cussen out to centrefield. He did well there and turned the tide in terms of possession and maybe without the big wind it was felt he might not see any ball in the second half but it meant Cork were short of his presence inside.

Morgan's use of the bench worked well. John Miskella brought some hard-edged graft to the wing, first as a deep forward and after Lynch's departure as a conventional wing back. Conor McCarthy came in for Lynch and his running added some dynamism to the half forwards.

It was McCarthy's perseverance in raiding down the right that drew the quick free and subsequent move that culminated in Donnacha O'Connor driving the ball right-to-left into the corner of Diarmuid Murphy's goal.

O'Connor added two frees to make it 1-12 each with 10 minutes left. Cork had the momentum and were level again at 1-13 apiece with five to go, and the closing minutes were frantic.

Declan O'Sullivan was hurt after sustaining what looked like a crash tackle as he moved in on a breaking ball in the Cork square.

Then Kavanagh had his chance before Kerry made sure and the road ahead forked for the great Munster rivals.

KERRY: 1 D Murphy; 2 M Ó Sé, 3 T O'Sullivan, 4 P Reidy; 5 T Ó Sé, 6 A O'Mahony, 7 K Young; 8 D Ó Sé, 9 M Quirke; 10 D O'Sullivan (0-3), 11 E Brosnan (0-1), 12 P Galvin; 13 C Cooper (1-2), 14 K Donaghy (0-2), 15 MF Russell (0-6, five frees). Subs: 18 S O'Sullivan (0-1)for Galvin (57 mins), 20 Darren O'Sullivan for Brosnan (62 mins), 26 T Griffin for Quirke (64 mins), 21 B Sheehan for Declan O'Sullivan (70 mins). Yellow cards: P Galvin (32 mins), D Murphy (39 mins), A O'Mahony (43 mins), M Quirke (62 mins), T Ó Sé (69 mins).

CORK: 1 P O'Shea; 2 M Shields, 3 G Canty, 4 K O'Connor; 5 N O'Leary, 6 G Spillane, 7 A Lynch; 8 D Kavanagh, 9 N Murphy (0-1); 10 F Goold, 11 P O'Neill (0-1), 12 K McMahon (0-1); 13 J Masters (0-4, two frees, one line-ball), 14 M Cussen (0-2), 15 D O'Connor (1-4, 0-4 from frees). Subs: 21 J Miskella for Goold (half-time), 24 C McCarthy for Lynch (54 mins). Yellow cards: M Shields (29 mins), K O'Connor (61 mins). Attendance: 31,420.

Referee: M Duffy(Sligo).