Allianz NFL Division 1A:
Cork 1-12 Kerry 0-8
The new yellow card rule, the clean pick up, the goalkeepers' tees and the floodlights contributed to a unique opening Allianz NFL Division 1 tie before about 5,000 fans at Pairc Ui Rinn.
With Kerry, in particular, naming a strong side, this local derby was always going to be a competitive affair - though it was played on a pitch which was heavily sanded.
In some respects, all the pressure was on the home side: while Kerry are in the process of recharging the batteries after their brilliant All-Ireland success, Cork have been training for a number of months after a dire All-Ireland campaign.
And it was the Rebels who scored first, corner forward John Hayes pointing from close range. After nine minutes, Kingdom ace Colm Cooper forced a great save from goalkeeper Kevin O'Dwyer, but Ronan O'Connor had time to tap over the bar.
O'Connor added another point after 21 minutes, but Mallow's Cian O'Riordan pointed on his Cork debut four minutes later.
Sean Levis ran through the Kerry defence late on, but his goal attempt was wayward.
Kerry ended the first half strongly, with a notable feature of their play the direct ball into Cooper and the full forward line which proved so successful last year. Declan Quail kicked a nice score with two minutes left, and the Kingdom led by five points to four at the break.
Jack O'Connor's charges added a couple of quick points early in the second half, with Quail adding his second, despite the intentions of Cork's Anthony Lynch. The home team seemed in trouble - but then the game's complexion changed utterly.
Suddenly, Billy Morgan's players seemed to up a gear and rattled off point after point, to the extent that they had turned a three-point deficit into a three-point lead by the hour mark.
O'Riordan added two more points, as did Conor McCarthy, although the latter had strong claims for a penalty when he appeared to be pushed over on 47 minutes. Kerry, struggling to cope with the zest of the Rebels attack, lost Paul Galvin to the new yellow card rule for a cynical foul.
Cooper stemmed the proverbial tied with a trademark turn and point on 61 minutes, but the respite proved ephemeral: Cork, from the very next attack, sealed the victory.
A fine move ended in Nicholas Murphy evading his namesake Diarmuid, before he thumped the ball home for the game's only green flag.
Cork now led by 1-10 to 0-8, and Kerry had no response. O'Riordan continued a dream debut by adding his fourth point, which preceded Brendan Jer O'Sullivan adding another from a tight angle as Kerry's defence disintegrated.
The victorious team can be very pleased with their start to the NFL, with Nicholas Murphy among their star players. Kerry enjoyed hardly any attacking possession in the latter half as they surrendered the midfield battle; indeed, Darragh O'Se had a surprisingly quite game.
Cian O'Riordan, who starred in Cork's U21 provincial championship success last year, was clearly not bothered by the attentions of marker Seamus Moynihan and he will be one of the finds of 2005 if he continues this form.
The game ended on a worrying note when 'Gooch' Cooper, who clashed heads with a teammate, had to be carried off, though it was thought that his injury was not too serious.
Billy Morgan, perhaps unsurprisingly, played down the importance of the Cork victory.
"It's always nice to beat Kerry, but let's see what happens later in the year," said the veteran Cork boss.
On reflection, it wasn't hard to tell which set of players had endured the more physical training in the past few months, with Cork full of running in the final quarter of the game.
That did not make this victory any less impressive, though, and Kerry might not have it all their own way in Munster come the summer.
