All-Ireland quarter final follow-up: Even as Kerry took the field on Sunday afternoon, Billy Morgan found himself surrounded and being quizzed about a reprise of the Munster final. The Nemo man was understandably elated by the manner of Cork's second-half comeback, but as a thunderous roar confirmed a goal for either Kerry or Mayo on the green field above, Morgan's thoughts turned to the most recent meeting between the great southern rivals.

"Well, in the Munster final we gave a good account of ourselves, but Kerry deserved to win that day and let there be no mistake about that. And maybe our lack of experience showed, particularly in the last quarter of an hour. I hope our team has learned from that and I am sure they have. We wanted to progress as far as we could and we are in a semi-final and I wouldn't look beyond that."

But already the provincial series seems like a long time ago. As expected, Kerry progressed inexorably towards the last four on Sunday, not quite crushing a brave Mayo team, but never fully showing their hand either. That Cork stands between the Kingdom and another September spices the occasion. And from the nadir of last year's implosion against Fermanagh, Cork are now just two games away from an All-Ireland title and are singing with confidence. Could they win it?

"Well, as I said we wanted to go as far as we could, like," Morgan reflects. "If we got to the quarter-final that was one better than last year. We are now in the semi-final and we'll see. We might start thinking about it - nah, I don't think we could beat Kerry. Sure we couldn't?"

It is clear that whatever happens, Morgan will enjoy the build up to this reunion with Kerry. The most significant aspect of their victory was their quiet, stubborn refusal to bow down in front of a stinging Galway attack during a torrid first half-hour.

When they needed a lifeline, they found it, beginning with a direct move which led to Alan Burke tripping James Masters in the penalty area. There is a story behind the fact that the young Carbery forward, John Hayes, stepped up to take what was a vital kick.

"Galway were really dominant at that stage and it brought us right into the game," acknowledges Morgan.

"Funnily, we got a penalty against Sligo and had no recognised taker. Michael O'Cronin was a penalty taker but he wasn't playing so I told James Masters and John Hayes that whoever felt like taking it to do so. And then I saw Brendan stepping up. So we practised during the weeks and I felt John was the best of them and gave him the job."

Hayes' finish was professional and cool and it was appropriate that he closed the scoring for Cork as well, shrugging off the attentions of Finian Hanley before slinging over the point which restored a three-point lead for his team. It was the mark of a player who had come of age.

"Since I saw John as a minor, I always thought he was a real player for the future, " Morgan says.

"And he's not that anymore, he is a player for the present. Unfortunately, we didn't get enough ball to him in the first half, but when it opened up in the second half, he is very tricky and very hard to pin down."

Even with that penalty, Cork were hanging on to Galway's shirt tails for most of that opening half and retired to the dressing room with a lot to think about. Whatever Morgan said worked, although he insists there was no great speech.

"In fairness to Galway, they had their homework done. They pulled their half-forward line out and left a big space in front of their full forward line and were putting quality ball in there which was hard to counteract. And then when we got possession they shuttled back and crowded their end of the field and it was hard to break them down.

"But having said all that, we still only went in being four points down. And those two points before the break brought us well into the game. So we just talked about what was happening out there and what we could do to change it. We reverted to a three-man full-forward line. I felt we needed a target man and we put Brendan Jer in there and played an orthodox forward line."

All of a sudden, Cork looked unstoppable. This weekend, the hurlers defend their All-Ireland championship against Clare and the footballers are set to give Kerry their sternest test of the year. Around the city, they will be talking of a double.

"They will of course, yeah," laughs Anthony Lynch, Cork's redoubtable centre-back.

"Yeah, I suppose it was down to Galway or ourselves for the double. But to be quite honest, there is no way you can look beyond an All-Ireland semi-final. We are delighted to be this far. We lost a Munster final and we were disappointed by it. So we could well end up without any medals this year." Still, they have medals on their minds again.