A 79th minute goal from Jack O'Connor earned Cork an epic 1-37 to 1-32 All-Ireland SHC semi-final final victory over old foes Kilkenny after extra-time at Croke Park this afternoon.

The reward for Kieran Kingston's side is a mouthwatering final meeting with Munster opponents and reigning All-Ireland champions Limerick on August 22.

After a strong second-half showing, the Rebels appeared to have done enough in normal-time, but it eventually took another 20-plus minutes of energy sapping action before their place in Sunday week's decider was rubber stamped.

Trailing by 0-29 to 0-26 with four minutes of injury-time lapsed, Kilkenny looked to engineer one last chance at goal and they only needed a sniff. Captain Adrian Mullen capitalised on a mistake in the Cork defence to drill the sliotar home and send the game into extra-time.

There were goal chances aplenty at both ends. Cork struck back towards the end of the first-half in extra-time when corner-forward O'Connor only had one thing on his mind as he smashed the ball past goalkeeper Eoin Murphy. They were in front again, 1-32 to 1-29, and stayed the course.

Dropped from the starting team by his manager and dad Kieran, half-time substitute Shane Kingston scored a remarkable seven points from play, including two in extra-time. Alan Cadogan (0-3) also made a telling contribution from the bench while Patrick Horgan (0-15, six from play) was his usual reliable self.

Kilkenny showed their tremendous never-say-die attitude to come back from six points down with three minutes of normal-time remaining and force extra-time but ultimately fell short in the last four of the All-Ireland series for the fourth successive season. The big question on everyone's lips, will Brian Cody be back for a 24th season?

Jack O'Connor loves scoring goals. This could be a vital one
Highlights on @rte2 and @rteplayer tonight#rtegaa #kkvcork https://t.co/J3NwqtvxKW pic.twitter.com/HWhDABTsPn

— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) August 8, 2021

 

 

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