Kildare roared to a brilliant 1-21 to 1-13 victory over a lethargic-looking Cork side at floodlit Semple Stadium.

Paul Cribbin delivered a Man of the Match performance for the Lilywhites, ably assisted by Tommy Moolick, with the mercurial Niall Kelly registering 1-4 from play.

This victory has earned Jason Ryan's rapidly-improving side an All-Ireland quarter-final shot at Kerry next Sunday. How their season has been transformed since that 19-point drubbing at the hands of Dublin! The opposite is the case for Cork, whose year is over a short week after their Munster final replay defeat.

A modest crowd of 3,815 attended this match as one of the stories of the championship so far unfolded.

With Kelly (0-3 from play) and Eoghan O'Flaherty (four frees) registering seven points between them, Kildare enjoyed a very strong first-half showing to lead by 0-11 to 0-5 at half time.

A Colm O'Neill free had edged the Rebels into a 0-4 to 0-3 lead after 21 minutes but - in an opening period that went on for the same length of time again due to nasty injuries to Alan O'Connor and Eamonn Callaghan - the Lilywhites outscored their opponents by 0-8 to 0-1 in an amazing purple patch from there to the short whistle.

Seven days on from their Munster final replay loss last weekend, the Leesiders looked lethargic, lacklustre and lifeless, while the Short Grass County were fresh and lively, with momentum very much behind them.

O'Neill had the Rebels up and running from a first-minute free but the Lilywhites moved ahead thanks to a lovely Kelly brace. Eoghan O'Flaherty made it 0-3 to 0-1 in the twelfth minute after James Loughrey (black card) pulled down Cathal McNally.

O'Neill's fantastic point had the Leesiders level by the 17th minute - that was their first score from play, Donncha O'Connor having converted a free a couple of minutes earlier. Cork lost midfielder Alan O'Connor to a nasty-looking knee injury before O'Neill (free) swung over their third successive score: 0-4 to 0-3 after 21 minutes.

O'Flaherty's second successful free had the sides level for the third time and the Carbury man added another before goalkeeper Mark Donnellan smashed over a '45' to make it 0-6 to 0-4 after 29 minutes. Kelly's third point was cancelled out by Paul Kerrigan - Cork's first score in ten minutes.

Alan Smith's excellent point on the turn restored the three-point cushion and Padraig O'Neill added another point for the dominant Leinster county. Despite losing captain Eamonn Callaghan to injury before the short whistle, the Lilywhites found themselves in a great position at the break, with O'Flaherty (free) and Ollie Lyons tagging on further scores before half time.

Mark Collins pointed for the Rebels within 30 seconds of the restart and Cork were unlucky when Conor Dorman fisted the ball off the crossbar when a goal looked inevitable. Almost immediately, at the other end, Kelly finished to the net with aplomb to leave eight points between the sides after 40 minutes.

Cribbin cancelled out a Donncha O'Connor '45' and there were further scores from Donnellan ('45') and O'Flaherty (free) as Jason Ryan's men moved ten clear with 24 minutes to go. The winners lost O'Flaherty to a black card before McNally replied to an O'Connor free.

Smith made it 1-16 to 0-8 at the three-quarters stage and Cork's evening went from bad to worse when they lost Kevin O'Driscoll to a straight red card. After Kelly brought his tally to 1-4, O'Neill dropkicked a close-range free to the back of the Kildare net 13 minutes from the end, followed by a Brian Hurley point.

Padraig Fogarty landed the 18th and 19th Kildare points after Hurley's goal attempt hit the outside of a post and the winners lost Emmet Bolton to a second yellow card before O'Connor (free), O'Neill and Brian O'Driscoll struck three consolation points in as many minutes.

Cribbin powered forward to strike another fabulous Kildare point in the 69th minute and Fogarty completed the rout after O'Connor supplied Cork's last point of the year. Hard to believe they came within one kick of a ball of being crowned Munster champions three weeks ago. Even harder to believe that Kildare were beaten out the gate at Croke Park four weeks ago!

Kildare - M Donnellan (0-2'45); O Lyons (0-1), C Fitzpatrick, M O'Grady; K Murnaghan, E Doyle, E Bolton; T Moolick, P Cribbin (0-1); C McNally (0-1), E O'Flaherty (0-5f), P O'Neill (0-2); N Kelly (1-4), A Smith (0-2), E Callaghan. Subs: P Fogarty (0-3, 1f) for E Callaghan, P Kelly for M O'Grady, M Sherry for E O'Flaherty (BC), F Conway for N Kelly, G White for A Smith.

Cork - K O'Halloran; J O'Sullivan, M Shields, S Cronin; C Dorman, J Loughrey, Barry O'Driscoll; A O'Connor, E Cadogan; C O'Driscoll, M Collins (0-1), K O'Driscoll; C O'Neill (1-4, 1-2f), D O'Connor (0-5, 3f, 1'45), P Kerrigan (0-1). Subs: Brian O'Driscoll (0-1) for J Loughrey (BC), F Goold for A O'Connor, B Hurley (0-1) for C O'Driscoll, T Clancy for S Cronin, J O'Rourke for C Dorman, D Og Hodnett for J O'Sullivan.

Referee - M Duffy.

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