Cork 2-24
Kerry 0-8

Cork put in a stunning performance in the Cadbury Munster U21FC final at Pairc Ui Rinn tonight as they thumped Kerry by 22 points.

Not content with being the current Sam Maguire and NFL Division 1 holders, the Rebel County seems to be keen on total football domination given the level of performance of their U21 side.

Two early goals from Barry O'Driscoll and Donal Og Hodnett rattled Kerry, with Cork piling on 2-5 inside the opening quarter hour.

The Kingdom, despite having a sizeable contingent of players who had represented the county in the current Allianz National League campaign, never recovered from that setback and the home side maintained their relentless pursuit of scores to lead 2-13 to 0-3 at the break.

The game was as good as over and although Kerry came out fighting at the start of the second half -substitute Barry John Walsh saw a shot cannon back off the woodwork two minutes in - they never looked likely even to succeed in the modest aim of damage limitation.

Aidan Walsh, the Cork captain and reigning Young Footballer of the Year, and Micheál O Laoire completely dominated the midfield sector while Hodnett, Mark Collins and Barry O'Driscoll were unstoppable in attack.

Cork manager John Cleary had the luxury of replacing Walsh, O'Driscoll and Ciaran Sheehan long before the finish while towards the end, Kerry's Paul Geaney missed the chance to take a miniscule consolation when he sent a penalty wide of Sean Mellet's goal.

Cork: S Mellet; L Jennings, D Cahalane, A Cronin; P Daly, T Clancy, J Wall (0-2); M Ó Laoire (0-1), A Walsh; C Sheehan (0-3), M Collins (0-7, five frees), J O'Rourke; B O'Driscoll (1-6, one free, one '45'), D Óg Hodnett (1-4), P Honohan. Subs: D O'Donovan for Cronin (40 mins), E Buckley (0-1) for O'Driscoll (48), S Beston for Honohan (51), B Coughlan for Sheehan (54), D Nation for Walsh (55).

Kerry: B Kelly; P Crowley, M Griffin, D O'Leary; J Sherwood, B Shanahan, J Lyne; T Ladden, E Walsh; J O'Donoghue (0-3, two frees), BJ Keane, A Fitzgerald; S O'Brien, D Casey (0-1), P Geaney (0-2, frees). Subs: J Walsh for E Walsh, BJ Walsh (0-1) for Fitzgerald (both 27 mins), P Kilkenny for Shanahan (half-time), K Hurley (0-1) for O'Brien (34), C Moriarty for Sherwood (50).

Referee: D O'Mahony (Tipperary).

For more information on the Cadbury GAA Championship go to our Facebook
www.facebook.com/U21GAAFootball or follow us on Twitter twitter.com/CadburyU21. Tweet

Most Read Stories